Union of the Snake: A Saga in Many Stories
by X-Chick303
Summary: The Kishin Asura dead, a new semester has begun at the DWMA. The main cast has become used to the peace. And yet, the universe has a way of taking this peace and throwing it back in their faces. Now they must face a group of sadistic teens calling themselves The Union of the Snake. Will Maka and co. defeat them?
1. Prologue

Death City, in ruins. Fires have broken out everywhere. The sky pulsates with an unknown energy.

_A sound soul_,

Students of the DWMA are scattered about. Some are moving. Most are not.

_dwells within a sound mind_,

Death Scythe is not moving as well, as are many of the instructors. But his body is the only one bleeding. Marie is holding Crona's thin frame, while Stein is carrying an unknown figure. It looks like a small girl.

_and a sound body_.

Death the Kid, Liz, and Patty are lying on the Death Room floor. Their bodies are completely still. Tsubaki is on the ground below, cradling Black*Star's head. He is also still. She is crying.

_That's one of the first things they drill into you at the DWMA_.

Soul Eater sat eerily calm on the ground. In front of him is the body of his meister, Maka.

_How did it go so wrong? But I'm getting ahead of myself. It all started awhile back, at a time when we thought we were on top of the world._

* * *

_**Before**_

"_AHHHHHHHH!_"

Yup, he finally noticed.

"Kid, it's not that bad," Maka insisted.

Death the Kid was not so easily convinced. He went right on ranting. "Look at it! It's nauseatingly hideous! How could my father do this to his own city?"

It had been approximately 15 minutes since the defeat of Asura, and Kid finally noticed that Death City was in complete disarray. (To put it lightly...)

"Kid, careful!" Patty yelled, though not sounding really concerned. "You just got stabbed a few minutes ago, remember?"

"And you know, speaking of your dad, don't you think we should go check on him?" Liz pointed out. "He was in pretty bad shape when we last saw him."

That snapped Kid out of it. He closed his eyes. "I can still sense his soul. He's still alive." He turned to his friends. "I'll fly on ahead and see if everyone else is alright. Liz, Patty!"

"Right!" Lix shouted.

"Okie-dokie!" Patty chirruped.

They morphed back to gun form while Kid summoned his skateboard. He jumped on to it, and flew off.

"Well, who cares if the city is completely wrecked!" Black*Star shouted, wanting to be the center of attention. "We just defeated a kishin! We should celebrate!"

"What do you mean 'we'?" Soul commented. "Maka's the one who did all the real work."

That flustered Black*Star, but he quickly collected himself. "Give me a break! Asura was nothing compared to a big star like me! I just pretended to be knocked out so Maka could feel good about herself!"

_**MAKA CHOP!**_

Black*Star was now on the ground, a good sized dent in his head.

"Black*Star, could you try to avoid being more injured than you already are, please?" Tsubaki sighed, knowing her partner was pretty hopeless. She turned to her friends. "Come on, everybody. We should probably get back up to school and get our wounds checked out."

That was probably for the best. Asura had really put them through the grinder. Tsubaki threw Black*Star over her shoulder and began the long walk back to the academy. Maka and Soul hung looked at each other.

"How's your arm?" Soul asked.

Maka rubbed it. "I don't think Asura broke it, it should be fine. But now my fist is sore. His jaw was really hard."

Short silence.

Soul smirked. "I liked your whole 'bravery' speech back there."

Maka frowned. "Shut up."

"No, really. It was pretty cool."

"You're asking to be chopped."

Soul just laughed and began walking on ahead, with Maka following.

"Anyway, Black*Star's an idiot, but he had a point," Soul went on. "We should celebrate. Now that Asura's gone, peace is definitely something to party about."

"Maybe," Maka agreed, smiling wistfully. "But Kid was right. It won't be long before another enemy surfaces. Maybe something worse than a kishin."

"Pfft. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, we can just relax."

"Yeah, I guess so."

Soul spread his arms wide, as if gesturing to everything. "Stop being so negative. You're the girl who killed the kishin with one punch." He started to run. "If you're creepy dad wasn't going to hug you to death before, wait until I tell him all that!"

Maka ran after him. "As if I'd let him, Soul!"

"You'll have to, especially after I tell him you have weapon abilities! He'll be so proud, he'll cry and get snot all over you!"

"Don't you dare! Soul! Soul Eater! Get back here!"

_Soul is right, though_, Maka thought as she ran after her partner. _A new enemy is inevitable, but for now, we can relax. Besides, what could be worse than Asura?_

* * *

_**6 weeks later**_

"This the place?" Free asked, looking up from his map.

In front of him was a moderately sized castle. He and his party had found it high up in the mountains.

Eruka nodded, consulting a piece of paper. "Yup. According to this file, this is the last of Medusa's hideouts. Once we raid it for it's stuff and blow it up, we'll be all done."

For the past few weeks since Medusa's... passing, Eruka and Free had roamed the country, searching for all of her castles and labs, and then destroying them. They felt that once it was done, they'd truly be free of her.

"I sent the Mizunes on ahead to check for traps," Eruka went on, putting the paper away. "They should be back any minute now."

Free rubbed the back of his neck. "It's been almost two months, and I_ still_ can't believe Medusa's dead. I keep thinking she'll come back, right when we least expect it."

"Hmph. I, for one, am glad she's finally gone. That snake woman can no longer threaten me," Eruka said cheerfully. She threw her arms up into the air and twirled around. "Ding-dong, the witch is dead! The wicked witch is really dead!"

Free just smiled and rolled his eyes at Eruka's enthusiasm. He had to admit, she had been happier these last few weeks than the entire time he'd known her. It was a nice change.

At that moment, five mice scampered over to Eruka and Free. With a puff of smoke, they became the Mizune sisters.

"Well?" Eruka asked. "Did you disable the traps?"

"Chichichi," the first Mizune sister replied urgently.

Eruka frowned, her happy expression now concerned.

"What'd she say?" Free asked. "I still not fluent in Mizune yet."

"She said that they disabled the traps, but there's something in there we need to see," Eruka replied.

A few minutes later, Free and Eruka were the castle, following the Mizunes down a trap door in the floor. Once down there, they were lead down a pitch-black hallway. At the end of the hall, there was a faint green light.

"Mizune, what's going on?" Eruka asked, getting nervous.

Entering the large room at the end of the hallway was answer enough. It was dark, the only light coming from many large cylindrical tanks, filled with glowing green liquid. Pipes ran across the entirety of the ceiling, some bending down to connect with the cylinders.

"I think I saw something like this in a movie once," Free noted. "What do you think these tanks are all for?"

"Knowing Medusa, this probably one of her twisted experiments," Eruka guessed.

She walked up to one of the tanks, and wiped off the fogged up glass.

"EEEEK!" she shrieked in horror. She reeled back, falling down in the process.

"Eruka!" Free shouted, running over to her. "What's wrong?"

Eruka pointed shakily at the tank, unable to speak. Free looked and his eyes widened.

"No way. Medusa?"

There was someone floating in that tank, and she, indeed, looked like Medusa. From her sandy hair, right down to the nick in her left eyebrow. Her eyes were partially open, but they looked glassy. There was no life in them.

"I knew it," Eruka sobbed, tugging her hat over her eyes. "I knew it was too good to be true. She found a way. She_ always_ finds a way."

"Calm down," Free said, trying to calm his friend. "Whoever this is, I don't she's alive."

Free walked up to another tank, wiping the foggy glass. He jumped back in shock. "There's another one!"

Eruka jumped up and wiped off two more tanks. Sure enough, there were Medusas in those as well. Further cleaning of the glass showed that these duplicates were flawed. One had no limbs, only long veiny tendrils of skin and muscle tissue. Another was missing the entire right side of her body.

"What is all this?" Eruka gasped in terror and disgust.

"Chichichi!" a Mizune shouted suddenly.

Free and Eruka ran over to where that particular Mizune was standing. She was in front of three tanks on the far side of the room. The only problem, was that these tanks had been shattered. Green liquid oozed all over the floor. And by the looks of it, they had been broken awhile ago.

"Now this getting scary," Free said. "I don't what these things are, but is it possible..."

"... That whatever was in those cylinders, escaped?" Eruka finished.

"Brilliant deduction. I guess you're not as stupid as you look."

At the sound of that scratchy voice, arrows made of black energy shot out of the floor, wrapping around the waists of the seven intruders and banging them against the ceiling.

Eruka looked down, ignoring the stinging pain in the back of her head. In the shadows stood three people wearing hospital gowns. Two girls and a boy, as far as she could tell. The arrows were coming from the boy, whose mouth was filled with sharp, shark-like teeth.

"Eruka Frog. Free the Werewolf. The Mizune Sisters," the first girl listed off, speaking in the scratchy voice they had heard earlier. "Thanks for unlocking the door to the lab. We've been trying for weeks, but it could only be opened from the outside."

"W-who are you?" Eruka stammered. "What do you want?"

The girl smiled. "Who are we? Excellent question. What do we want? Truthfully, not much."

She turned to the second girl. "A good home for this little one, for starters."

She was looking at what the other girl was holding in her arms. Eruka squinted her eyes, which then widened in fear once she realized what it was.

It was a long black snake, covered in little yellow arrows.

The scratchy girl crossed her arms and grinned in a familiar evil fashion. "Congratulations. You've officially been re-hired."

* * *

**Ooh, I love a good cliffhanger. Who are these mysterious people in Medusa's basement? Well, if you want to know, you'll have to wait, because it'll be a little while before we get back to them. Stay tuned for Episode 1: ****_New Semester at the DWMA! The Next Meisters and Weapons of Class Crescent Moon? Part 1_**


	2. New Semester at the DWMA! Part 1

**Okay, true believers! If you go to my profile, you'll find links to some concept art and meme describing who would play their voices if it were a real anime. Tell me what you think. Also, introduced into this chapter are a few of my OCs. They have big roles in this chapter, but are more of background characters in later chapters. Anyway, enough chit-chat. Let's get to the story.**

"Speaking."_**  
**_"YELLING VERY LOUDLY!"_**  
**_"___Saying an attack/move, talking on the phone/intercom, having a flashback, or having a hissy/whispery voice._"_**  
**__Thoughts.  
_**__****SOUND EFFECTS.  
**"******Talking while in weapon form.**"

* * *

_A sound soul,_

_dwells within a sound mind,_

_and a sound body._

* * *

**_Another month later_**

"Any sign of it yet?" Dylan asked, looking through his binoculars.

"**You're the one with the binoculars**," his weapon, who was strapped to his side, replied. "**How about you use your ability to find it**?"

He bluntly pointed at the moon. "Forget it. I can't concentrate with that _thing_ staring down at me."

His weapon only sighed at the excuse. Another minute of searching, he caught sight of the target.

"Serial killer Lucha Loco." He grinned. "Right on schedule. Are Bella and Dorje in place?"

"**They should be.**"

"Perfect."

In the streets below, a monstrous luchador pre-kishin barreled through the empty city, seeking out his prey.

"Souls," it slobbered. "I want more souls!"

"Not tonight, freakshow!"

The monster stopped, narrowly missing being sliced by something round and sharp, which just flew past it. The round/sharp thing returned to the thrower.

Dorje leaned on a wall, spinning his weapon in his hand. "I read that if a luchador loses it's mask, he experiences dishonor for the rest of his life."

Its mask fell to pieces. The luchador's hand flew to his face.

Dorje smirked. "It's okay. The shame is only for life."

"**And yours isn't going to last much longer**," his weapon added snarkily. "**Bella**!"

"_Oui_!"

From above, a girl jumped down from her spot of a building's ledge. In one fell swoop, it was off with the monster's head. Its body disintegrated, leaving behind only it's red, evil soul.

"Nicely done," Dylan complimented, joining his team.

"Thanks!" Bella replied happily, slinging her weapon across her back. "Our teamwork has certainly gotten better these last few weeks."

"I agree," their chaperon added. He stepped out of the shadows.

"Hey, Sid!" the kids greeted.

"You kids have been doing very well. I'm proud," he said. "You guys will be able to start the DWMA tomorrow."

High five exchanges.

"But remember, you still have a lot to learn." He pulled some dossiers out of a messenger bag. "Hopefully, these guys will teach you what's left. And who knows? Maybe they'll learn something from you."

The group skimmed through the papers. On them are descriptions. Descriptions of a certain resonance team from Class Crescent Moon.

* * *

**Episode 1: New Semester at the DWMA! The Next Meisters and Weapons of Class Crescent Moon? Part 1**

* * *

In the near three months since Asura's defeat, Death City had long been restored to it's former glory. The academy, specifically, had been given some improvements. (Death the Kid wouldn't let the construction team even_ touch_ the blueprints, let alone look at them, until he made sure the plans were symmetrical.) The Death Weapon Meister Academy was back and better than ever.

Inside the Death Room, Lord Death watched students as they entered the school through his mirror.

"Ah, there's nothing like the beginning of a new semester!" Lord Death said excitedly. "I always enjoy seeing what new kinds of meisters and weapons it brings."

"I'll say," Death Scythe, Spirit Albarn, agreed. "Any one of them could end up creating or being your next death scythe."

"That's true," Lord Death noted. "I saw some fine candidates during that pre-semester orientation camp Sid ran."

"Yeah, looks like my Maka and your son may have some competition this year."

"What about Black*Star?"

"He's not my kid, and he's not your kid, so I couldn't care less."

Lord Death just shrugged. "Oh well! I guess all that matters is that the school is back up and running, and everyone seems glad to be back!"

* * *

"Man! I can't believe we have to go back already!"

Well, _almost_ everyone.

Maka rolled her eyes at her partner's attitude as they walked up the many steps of the school building.

"And I also can't believe they rebuilt the entire school," Soul went on, "and didn't even think to install an escalator."

"I can't believe you're still complaining about it," Maka retorted. "And I like that we're coming back. I was so bored these last few months, between healing from my wounds and waiting for break to be over."

"That's because you're boring."

Maka was sorely tempted to hit him topside the head with a textbook, but instead tried a different approach.

"Think of it this way, Soul. You could come to school today, or spend another 3 months dealing with Blair."

Soul thought about that.

* * *

_**Earlier that same morning**_

_"Aw, don't go to school, Soul!" Blair whined, smushing his face into her... ah, chest. "Stay here and play with me!"_

_Soul reeled back, blood squirting out of his nose._

_Maka sighed and helped Soul back up. "Sorry, Blair. We'd better get going, or we're going to be late."_

_Blair put on a pouty expression. "Okay then. I guess I'll just have to play with Crona today!"_

_With that, she grabbed Crona, who had been standing off to the side, and smushed_ his_ face into her... chest._

_"Crona!" Maka shouted, worried._

_"Sorry!" Crona apologized immediately, trying to fight against the cat's strong grip. "A woman has never pushed my face into her chest before! I don't how to deal with something like this!"_

_"Are you kidding?" Ragnarok said, popping out of Crona's back. "Who needs to 'deal' with this? Blair's hot and that's all you need to know! How can you call yourself a man and not be enjoying this?'_

_Maka sighed in defeat. Soul's nose was still bleeding._

* * *

"Then again, going to school might not be so bad after all," Soul said, squeezing the bridge of his nose and looking as if he'd been mentally scarred.

Maka nodded triumphantly. "That's what I thought. And thinking of Crona, where did he run off to?"

Crona had moved in with Maka and Soul after the kishin's defeat. Since he did help locate Professor Stein after his disappearance, as well play a part in Medusa's defeat, his past transgressions were forgotten. He would be attending classes regularly at the school.

"Hey, Maka! Soul!"

They turned to see Liz and Patty, and between them they were carrying a horribly depressed-looking Crona.

"Liz! Patty!" Maka said as they caught up with her. "Where'd you find him?"

"We found him collapsed at the foot of the stairs," Liz replied. "Mumbling about not wanting to deal with any of this."

Crona was still in shock from Blair's hug this morning, it seemed.

"We thought he was a dead body!" Patty added cheerfully. "When he moved he just about scared the pee out of us!"

Everyone had learned long ago that when Patty said stuff like that, it wasn't because she was dumb. It was just Patty being... well, Patty.

"So where's Mr. Symmetry? I haven't seen him yet," Soul asked, referring to Kid.

Liz rolled her eyes. "He set out early today. He said he wanted to measure every inch of the school to make sure it was perfectly symmetrical."

Maka sweat dropped. "Didn't he already do that seven times this month?"

"He said he wanted to make it an even eight."

They group shook their heads at Kid's OCD, set Crona back up on his feet, and finished the trek up the front steps. All over the front courtyard, students were roaming about and chatting with friends. It seemed as if there were twice as many students than previous semesters. After a little searching, they found Kid by the courtyard's east wall, kneeling and holding a measuring tape against it.

"Perfectly even, just as I thought," Kid said to himself, satisfied. He stood up. "I guess I was just imagining things."

"Hey, Kid!" Liz called out. "Got your morning crazies worked out?"

Kid frowned and joined his friends. "There is nothing wrong about making sure the school's symmetry is accurate."

"Considering you did it seven times already..." Soul began.

Kid said nothing. He didn't have to explain himself.

"Well, looks like the gang is almost all here," Maka declared. "We have myself and Soul, Kid, Liz, Patty, and Crona. But has anybody seen-"

"YA-HOOOOOOO!"

"Never mind."

Patty giggled enthusiastically and pointed at one of the many red cones on the school. "Look at Black*Star! He's so high up!"

Sure enough, being the arrogant idiot that he was, Black*Star was continuing his new semester tradition of getting up to the highest point on the school and 'performing' for the new students.

"Listen up, newbies!" he shouted. "If you're going to be attending here, the first thing you'll learn is this: I am the great Black*Star! I have not only surpassed God, I defeated a kishin!"

This speech may have had a better effect of the students, if they could actually understand a single word he was saying.

As Maka and her friends ran through the crowd to find Tsubaki, they heard the sort of comments Black*Star's speech was getting.

"Is that a monkey?"

"Or an idiot?"

"Dude, is he gonna jump?"

"What's he saying? I can't hear him."

"Hahaha! _Ce garçon est très drôle_!"

That was last one was in French, so they weren't sure exactly what that person said. They finally found Tsubaki at the front of the crowd, looking both sheepish and embarrassed.

"Tsubaki!" Soul shouted.

Tsubaki turned. "Oh, hey Soul, Maka. Everybody else."

Maka looked back up at Black*Star, then at Tsubaki. "I thought you were going to talk him out of it this time!"

Tsubaki gave her a smile filled with guilt. "You actually believed I would succeed?"

The group gave a collective groan. In truth, they had.

"Okay, any ideas on how to get him down?" Maka sighed.

"We could just wait for the beam to collapse under his weight, like it always does," Soul suggested.

"That's not going to happen," Kid contradicted. "When they were repairing the school, my father had the builders re-enforce the cones, so they would not break so easily."

"Well, maybe _you_ could _shoot_ him down," Soul said, giving him a look that said he knew _Kid_ had made the builders re-enforce the cones, not Lord Death. Kid pretended not to notice.

"Nope, he's too high," Liz said as Patty stood next to her, still giggling at Black*Star. "We wouldn't be able to get a clear shot. Maybe if Kid used Beelz-"

"OW!" Black*Star shouted suddenly.

They looked up, just in time to see Black*Star fall and land flat on Crona.

"Black*Star!" Tsubaki shouted with worry.

"Crona!" Maka yelled in concern.

"I'm okay," Black*Star croaked in agony. "This kind of pain is nothing for a big guy like me."

"Hey, Crona! I hardened your blood so _Fallen Star_ didn't break your spine," Ragnarok announced. "Gimme a thank you!"

"Thank... you..." Crona wheezed, still clearly in pain.

Tsubaki did Crona a favor and moved Black*Star off his back.

"I wonder what made him fall off," Kid wondered aloud.

"I think it was that guy," Soul said, pointing at a boy in the crowd.

The boy he was pointing at was down on one knee, aiming a simple slingshot at where Black*Star had been, with a few small stones at his feet. The guy looked about 15 years old, with black hair in choppy bangs, deep tan skin, and bronze colored eyes. He was wearing a camo-green short-sleeved t-shirt, a leather necklace that held a weird pouch, light brown slacks, and loafers.

He got up and walked over to Maka's group.

"I overheard you guys talking about shooting him down, and not being able to get a clear shot. So I decided to do it for you," the guy explained, sticking his sling-shot into his pocket.

Maka looked at him, up to where Black*Star had been standing, and back to the boy. "You got a clear hit from so far away? With a _sling-shot_?"

He smiled. "What can I say? I never miss." He looked at Tsubaki. "This guy your partner?"

Tsubaki nodded slowly.

The boy smiled again. "Try to keep a better eye on him. I don't know if you're new like me, but I'm pretty sure the whole school thinks he's an idiot right now."

With that, the guy turned around and walked away.

* * *

"Who did that guy think he was?" Black*Star grumbled angrily. "He totally tried to steal my spotlight!"

The gang, now inside the building, were making their way to Class Crescent Moon.

"Aren't you even the littlest bit concerned that he shot you off the top of the school without a second thought for your safety?" Tsubaki asked, sweat-dropping.

Black*Star didn't answer, so Tsubaki decided to leave it at that.

They continued to walk, often bumping into other students. The halls were packed to capacity.

Liz elbowed her way through a group of boys. "Is it just me, or are there twice as many students as last semester?"

"I guess the whole Asura thing was major wake up call," Maka said. "Many meisters and weapons are crowding here so they can get proper training to fight kishin."

_Not surprising, _Maka thought. _Asura was an eye-opener. People realize that a kishin can come back. We're not invincible._

"It's refreshing to see that so many are willing to train, but most of them will probably end up in the NOT class," Kid pointed out coolly.

"Oh, good point."

"'NOT class'?" Soul asked. "What's that?"

Maka gave him an exasperated look. "We've been going here for _years_ and you didn't know?"

"The students here in the academy are divided into two classes," Kid explained. "The NOT class and the EAT class. All of us are in EAT, which means we go on missions and into combat."

"But kids in NOT just train, and don't go on missions," Maka continued. "Did you know that only 10% of the students are combatants?"

"Really?" Tsubaki said. "I guess explains a few things. If every single student went on missions, then there wouldn't so many kishin eggs in the world to go after."

"So, wait a minute!" Black*Star shouted. "Because we're in EAT, that means we're the best, right?"

Maka nodded.

"I knew it! Even the school board knows how big a star I am!"

"Who else knew he was going to bring that up?" Soul asked rhetorically.

"I did!" Patty answered anyway.

"Patty, I think that was rhetorical. You weren't supposed to answer it," Liz said.

Patty looked confused. "If he didn't want anyone to answer, then why did he ask?"

"Oh look, we're here!" Maka said, wanting to end the conversation before it got more stupid.

They now all stood outside of Class Crescent Moon.

"Okay, after all this time, I have to admit, it's pretty cool to be back," Soul noted.

"Yeah," Maka agreed. "Come on! Let's go inside and sit in our usual row!"

Everyone smiled and agreed to that, and entered the classroom.

_This is it_, Maka thought. _We're finally back. Now if only I could shake off the feeling that we forgot something.  
_

* * *

Meanwhile, back outside, Crona was in the exact same spot where Black*Star had fallen on him.

"Crona, get up! It does me no good if you lie here like a pathetic loser all day!" Ragnarok shouted.

"I don't want to get up," Crona whimpered, burying his face into the gravel. "I don't want to deal with any of this. I'll just stay here."

Ragnarok started beating on Crona's head. "If you weren't such a weakling, you wouldn't have gotten body-slammed by Black*Star! Get up, or else!"

Crona just ignored Ragnarok and continued to bury his face. He didn't even notice when a person in familiar white platform shoes walked up to him.

* * *

"Is it just me, or are there people sitting in _our_ seats?" Black*Star scowled.

"Am I supposed to answer that one?" Patty asked.

Maka was just as shocked as her friends. Never, in all her time at the school, had Class Crescent Moon gotten new students. There were the usual kids, like Ox and his team, but there were also a bunch of new people. There were six of them in all.

Where Kid and the Thompson sisters' usually sat were two girls. The first girl had curly golden blonde hair and bright green eyes, and was wearing a pink top with sleeves that went to her elbows and exposed one shoulder, revealing a white tank top underneath. She also wore a pink-and-grey plaid miniskirt, a belt that had a clip that looked like Lord Death's mask on it, white knee socks, and grey hi-tops. She seemed to be very excited and was talking a mile a minute to her friend. The second girl, however, looked as bored as the first girl looked cheerful. Her hair, which fell to her shoulders, was jet-black with the front bangs dyed bright green. Her eyes were a dark blue, and clothes-wise, she wore a white long-sleeved t-shirt with a black vest over it, black jeans, black boots, and some silver bangles on her right wrist. She seemed to be listening to her friend, but not really.

In Black*Star and Tsubaki's usual spot were two boys, both looking somewhat South Asian. The first had gelled his dark hair into spikes, glittering black eyes, and seemed to be the older of the two. He wore a green sports jersey, jeans, and steel-toed boots, which seemed a little out of place. The second boy, the younger one, had black bangs that fell messily out of his red pirate bandanna. His eyes were gray, and had strange, triangular marks coming down from his bottom eyelids, making him look a little like a clown. He wore a loose long-sleeved dark blue/light blue striped t-shirt, cargo shorts, and converse sneakers. The two of them were glaring bitterly at each other, as if they were in an argument.

And finally, where Soul and Maka usually sat, were another boy and girl. The girl was Japanese, with long dark hair and big brown eyes. She wore a short-sleeved purple sweater dress, black hunting vest, and combat boots. She was chatting with the boy next to her, who Maka recognized as the boy with the slingshot from earlier.

"We did get here a little later, thanks to Black*Star," Kid said. "In that time, anybody could have taken our seats."

"The front row is empty," Soul sighed. "Let's just sit there."

Of course, Black*Star wouldn't let it go.

"Hey! You newbies get out of our seats!" he hollered.

The blonde girl stopped talking to her friend and turned.

"Look, Esme! It's the funny boy from earlier!", she said happily with a thick French accent. The girl, Esme, gave Black*Star a quick glance and smirked.

"I am Black*Star!" he continued to shout. "I defeated the kishin! Maybe you've heard of me?"

By this point, the blonde girl had begun ignoring him and gone back to speaking with her friend.

"C'mon, Black*Star," Tsubaki said, sighing and dragging a shocked Black*Star behind her. "Let's take our seats."

Kid and his weapons soon followed, as well as Soul and Maka.

A minute or two later, the sound of a rolling desk chair could be heard coming down the hall outside. Professor Stein came rolling in, hit a bump, and was sent spinning across the floor.

_Some things never change_, Maka sighed, sweat-dropping. Little did she know that her friends were thinking the exact same thing.

Not bothering to get up from his spot on the floor, Stein addressed the class. "Good morning, everyone. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Professor Franken Stein. I'll be in charge of teaching your classes as well as training you to fight kishin. Now, if you'll divert your attention to the monitors, Lord Death will be giving an address to the school."

The students did just that, and sure enough, Lord Death's goofy mask appeared on the screens.

"_Hiya, hiya, hiya!_" Lord Death greeted chipperly, practically bouncing in place. "_Welcome back to Death Weapon Meister Academy, everybody! I'm so happy to see so many new faces in the school! I know the last few months have been a little bit crazy, but let's try to make this a good year, alright?_"

"Yes, Lord Death!" everyone in the school shouted in unison. It was pretty impressive that they managed to pull it off.

Before the monitors could shut off, Spirit's face filled the screen.

"_Maka! Good luck on first day! Papa loves you!_"

_**REAPER CHOP!**_

Spirit now had a huge dent in his head, and Lord Death stood behind him with one blocky hand raised. Then the monitors shut off.

Maka was blushing furiously as her fellow classmates snickered at her embarrassment.

"Your dad is so uncool, Maka," Soul commented. "As usual."

Maka banged her head on her desk. "Tell me about it, Soul."

"Excuse me, but are you Maka Albarn and Soul Eater?"

Maka lifted her head, and she and Soul turned to see the girl in the black hunting vest. Sling-Shot Boy's friend.

"Yeah, what about it?" Soul asked.

"Soul, don't be rude. It was a simple question," Maka scolded him.

"It's okay," the girl assured her. "My name is Hana Yamada. I was just asking because, according to this notice that me and Dylan got earlier, it looks like you two are going to be our mentors for the next few days."

Maka and Soul stared at her blankly. "...Huh?"

"We're not the only ones who got notices," Hana went on. She pointed at the blonde French girl and her friend. "Bella Du Bois and Esme Lockheart are going to be mentored by somebody name Death the Kid, and his weapons Elizabeth and Patricia Thompson." She then pointed at the arguing boys. "And Dorje and Nuba Phillips are going to be mentored by some kid named Black*Star and his weapon, Tsubaki Nakatsukasa."

They continued to stare at her blankly, and could only repeat their last answer. "...Huh?"

* * *

"You were sure to give the Dylan and his team their assignments?" Lord Death asked.

Sid nodded. "I did exactly as you asked. Stein will be giving them further details after class today."

"Good job, thank you."

Sid left, and once he was out of earshot, Death Scythe asked his question. "Lord Death, may I ask what the point of all this is?"

Lord Death tilted to one side. "Hmm?"

"I don't see why you're having Maka and her friends do this mentoring thing. I mean, didn't they already learn the lesson you're trying to teach awhile ago?"

"You mean the during the resonance link thing? Sort of, but this is a little bit different." Lord Death watched Soul and Maka's reactions through his mirror. "Maka's team, though very different, know how to work with each other on the basis on their friendship. We're going to see how they work with people they don't like."

* * *

**These episodes are going to be a little long, so I'm dividing a good chunk of them into two parts. Anyway, you met my OCs. Dylan Longbow and Hana Yamada, Bella Du Bois and Esme Lockheart, and Dorje and Nuba Phillips. If this were a real anime, here's who I would have play who.**

**Dylan Longbow: Jason Liebrecht**

**Hana Yamada: Cythina Cranz**

**Bella Du Bois: Carrie Savage (Using a French accent)**

**Esme Lockheart: Meredith McCoy**

**Dorje Phillips: Justin Cook**

**Nuba Phillips: Greg Ayres**


	3. New Semester at the DWMA! Part 2

**Episode 1: New Semester at the DWMA! The Next Meisters and Weapons of Class Crescent Moon? Part 2**

* * *

Maka stared at the file in her hand, still processing what Stein had told her and her friends earlier.

* * *

**_A few hours earlier..._**

_"Stein, what's this we hear about having to 'mentor' people?" Maka asked. She and her friends crowded Stein's desk, while their fellow classmate were filling out one of those stupid "Get to Know Your Textbook" worksheets._

_Stein twisted the screw in his head two times before answering. "I assume you've already noticed the new kids?"_

_They nodded._

_"They attended a special pre-semester orientation camp run by Sid. During the camp, they trained and went on some minor missions. Those six in particular performed the best, so they were upgraded to Class Crescent Moon."_

_"I suppose that makes sense," Kid said. "But what about this whole mentoring thing?"_

_"It's nothing too difficult," Stein assured them. "You'll mostly just be hanging around with them for the next couple days, showing them the ropes and all that."_

_"Listen Stein, we have better things to do than babysit some newbies," Soul scowled. "Why can't Ox and Havar's team do this? They're all pretty good."_

_"They have their own assignments to worry about. Now listen. After the couple days are up, you'll participate in a special training exercise. In the long run, this whole experience should teach you a very important lesson. But if you bomb the exercise, and don't learn this lesson, you'll all receive failing grades for the rest of the year."_

_"WHAT!" they managed to shout in unison. "YOU'RE GONNA FAIL US?"_

_"We can't fail on the first day!" Tsubaki cried. "We'd be the laughing stocks of the whole school!"_

_"Black*Star already_ is_ a laughing stock, so I guess you have nothing to worry about," Soul commented._

_"Watch who're you're calling a laughing stock, Soul," Black*Star said, grinning with confidence. "I'll take these new kids on as my apprentices and win that training exercise! Who knows? Maybe they'll even turn out to be almost as big of stars as me!" A cocky Black*Star laugh followed._

_"It might be nice to spend time with people who won't get a nosebleed the day I decide to wear a bracelet on one wrist and not the other," Liz noted._

_"Maybe they'll like giraffes!" Patty added._

_Maka noticed that her friends were getting excited about this, so she sighed, then stood up straight. "Professor Stein, we accept this assignment, and will complete it to the best of our abilities."_

_Stein smiled. "I thought so." He took out some files out of his desk. "Here. This is all you need to know about the kids. Take a look at them after class. Good luck."_

* * *

**_Present_**

Maka, Soul, and friends were now on one of the multiple balconies in the school, waiting for their 'apprentices' to show up. (Well, Black*Star wasn't in sight. The group assumed he had made his way back up to the red cones, and left it at that.) And by this point, most of those excited feelings had boiled down to apathy with a twist of dread.

"I can't fail on the first day," Maka groaned, on the verge of an emotional breakdown. "But I don't even know how to be a mentor. How are we going to pass this?"

"Stop moping," Soul scolded her. "You got just like this that time we fought Sid in the graveyard. And it turned out okay."

"We got tied to Sid and Professor Stein nearly killed us."

"So you see my point."

"I'm with Soul on this one," Kid added. "This is hardly the most difficult assignment Professor Stein has given us, nor is it the most difficult thing we've ever _done_. I'm sure we can handle it."

"Well, what if the new kids are all asymmetrical? What're you gonna do then?" Patty asked.

This took a second to sink in.

"AHH, you're right! I didn't even consider that!" Kid shouted in panic.

Liz sighed. "You just had to go and say that, didn't you, Patty?"

Patty responded to this by giggling uncontrollably.

In the long run, it took a full 20 minutes to convince Kid that the new kids would probably be symmetrical and he should calm down before Maka chopped him into oblivion. And thus the waiting continued.

"If we're gonna be their babysitters for the next few days, the least they can do is show up on time," Soul complained, breaking the silence. He had a right to be mad. They had been waiting for two hours now.

"Maybe now would be a good time to look at their files," Tsubaki suggested chipperly. "Maka, would you like to start?"

Maka nodded and opened her folder, reading aloud. "According to this, Soul and I are in charge of Meister Dylan Longbow and his weapon, Hana Yamada. Dylan is from Bone Canyon Navajo Reservation here in Nevada, and Hana's from Tokyo, Japan." Dylan's last name sounded familiar. "Longbow, huh? That name sounds familiar."

"Wasn't there a famous meister back in the 40s with the name Longbow?" Kid asked. (Being a reaper, he tends to know these things.) "Ah yes, now I remember. Charles Longbow. He was, coincidentally, a bow meister."

Maka remembered the name now, and was instantly filled with enthusiasm. Charles Longbow was part of a long line of meisters, and considered one of the greatest meisters in school history. It was said that his aim was uncanny, that he could pin a fly's wing to a tree with a dart without even killing the fly. He even created a death scythe back in 1947. And now she would be mentoring a relative of his? She was so thrilled, she could burst.

"What about the weapon? Hana, right? Anything special about her?" Soul asked in curiosity.

Maka swallowed her excited feelings and looked back at the file. "Well, besides the fact her family runs a very successful trading company, not really. According to this, the partners ranked first in the camp Sid ran." She looked at Kid. "What about your charges?"

Kid opened the file. "I have Meister Bella Du Bois, from Paris, France, and her weapon Esme Lockheart, from Vancouver, Canada. According to this, they ranked second during the camp." He skimmed further ahead. "Well, that's interesting."

"What?" Liz asked, reading over Kid's shoulder.

"Due to Bella's habit of cutting off her enemies' heads, she's earned the nickname, 'Bella the Beheader.'"

"You're kidding!" Maka gasped. Did that silly French girl really have such a stern nickname?

"I'm not. It says here that some her ancestors operated the guillotines during the French Revolution," Kid confirmed. "Apparently performing decapitation runs in the family."

"Lucky!" Black*Star shouted, jumping out of nowhere. (He hadn't gone up to the top the school. He had actually been hiding in the bushes, hoping to ambush the new kids when they arrived.) "This Bella girl sounds strong. But then again, she could possibly outshine me, which means she must be assassinated!"

Patty grabbed the file and read aloud. "'Oh, and make sure Black*Star doesn't do anything stupid to Bella. Esme is fiercely protective of her and won't hesitate to gut anyone who threatens her meister.'"

Black*Star just laughed. "HA-HA-HA! I'd like to see her try! I'm too big a guy to be gutted by a little girl!"

"How about we read next?" Tsubaki said suddenly. Her interrupting Black*Star was greatly appreciated by her friends. She flipped through her papers. "Okay, we have Meister Dorje Phillips and his weapon, Nuba. They're from Anchorage, Alaska. Looks like they're brothers."

"A meister and a weapon in the same family? That's a little weird," Black*Star commented. "Or is Dorje a weapon too, like Liz and Patty?"

"No, it says that only Nuba is the weapon," Tsubaki answered. "They ranked third in Sid's camp." She skimmed further. "Hey, it says that Nuba has two weapon forms!"

"Really? So, what, does that mean he's like you, Tsubaki?" Soul asked.

"Not exactly. I have more forms than he does, but maybe that's why he and Dorje were assigned to us. Stein probably wanted us to show them some pointers."

"You bet I'll show them some pointers!" Black*Star declared. "They're lucky to have such a big star as a mentor!"

"Big star, huh? Didn't look that way this morning. Unless you were being a big_ falling_ star."

The group turned just in time to see Dylan, Hana, Bella, Esme, Dorje, and Nuba come out on to the balcony.

"Sorry we're late!" Hana called over. "We got a little sidetracked."

That sidetrack had been a little meeting with Professor Stein. But they weren't going to tell them that.

"Better late than never," Maka commented. Once the new kids were in front of her team, she said, "Okay! For those of you who don't know, my name is Maka Albarn." She gestured to Soul. "And this is my weapon, Soul Eater."

"'Sup," Soul greeted coolly.

"Maka Albarn?" the boy in the red bandanna, Nuba, asked. "You're the chick who killed the kishin?" He sounded like he couldn't believe it.

"No, she's Maka Albarn, the chick who wielded a ring to rule them all," his brother, Dorje, replied sarcastically. "Of course she's the girl who killed the kishin! Don't be stupid!"

"You're the one who's stupid!" Nuba retorted.

"No, you're stupid!"

"You!"

"You!"

"You!"

"You!"

"You times infinity!"

Maka sweat-dropped at the two as their argument went on. "Um... maybe someone should break up the fight?"

"When they get like this, it's best to just ignore them," Dylan said, not looking up from the game-boy he was playing. "Please, continue."

Not sure what else to do, they ignored the arguing brothers and went on.

"I'm Death the Kid," Kid said, continuing the introductions. He gestured to the twin pistols. "These are my weapons, Liz and Patty Thompson.

"Hey there," Liz said waving.

"Hi!" Patty cheered happily.

"I AM BLACK*STAR!" Black*Star shouted. "And this my weapon, Tsubaki!"

"Nice to meet you all," Tsubaki said politely.

"Cool," Dylan commented, looking up from his game. "I'm Dylan Longbow, and this is my weapon, Hana."

Hana nodded. "Hello."

"_Bon jour_!" Bella declared. "I am Bella Du Bois! This girl is my _arme_, Esme!"

Esme just waved.

Dorje and Nuba were still arguing, so Dylan said, "And those two are Dorje and Nuba Phillips. So, how are we going to do this?"

Maka drew a blank. "Gee, I didn't think this far ahead. Professor Stein said we were supposed to show you the ropes."

"You guys attended a training camp before this, right? What did you do during that?" Black*Star asked, curious.

"We mostly sparred and went on some minor missions," Dorje replied, putting his brother into a headlock. "If you guys are supposed to show us the ropes, you could give us a tour of the school, and if we're doing that training exercise in a few days, you could show us some moves Sid may not have taught us."

"When I get out of this, you're dead!" Nuba shouted. Everybody ignored him.

"We would love a tour!" Bella said chipperly. She jumped onto Esme's back, wrapping her arms around Esme's neck. "The camp was in the desert, so we never did see all of the school or Death City. Right, Esme?"

Esme nodded.

"So basically we're going to be doing practically the exact same thing we did in the camp, only with you guys?" Dylan asked. He blew some hair out of his face. "Yeah, _that_ won't get boring."

"It won't be so bad, Dylan!" Hana said, sounding worried. "Just give it a chance!"

So it was decided. Everyone would break off into their respective groups, and see where things would go from there.

* * *

"You're lucky I found you, Crona," Marie said as she pulled the boy along. "If I hadn't shown up, you'd still probably be on the ground."

Crona looked at his feet. "Um, well, thanks, I guess."

Marie just smiled and continued to pull him down the hall.

"So, uh, Ms Marie, what are you still doing at the school?" Crona asked. "We all thought you went back to Oceania weeks ago."

"Oh, that. I decided that since I like teaching all you kids so much, I'd stay and continue being a teacher. Azusa is covering for me back in Oceania."

"Really? I'm glad."

They continued walking.

"Um, Ms. Marie?"

"Yes, Crona?"

"I think that's the fifth time we've walked past that door."

* * *

_**Death the Kid, Liz, and Patty/Bella and Esme**_

"Are you really the son of Lord Death?" Bella babbled. "Does that mean he's married? When did that happen?"

Kid was barely listening to her. For the first day of his 'mentoring', he decided to show his charges around Death City, because Bella had mentioned not knowing her way around the city. But he was regretting this decision, because Bella had not stopped talking the entire time.

"Have you ever wondered why the sun has such a creepy smile? In France, it wears a beret, which is_ bizarre_. Where could anyone find a hat that big?"

Kid understood why her partner, Esme, never seemed to speak. She probably couldn't get a word in otherwise. "Um, Bella?" he interrupted, stopping in front of a park.

"_Oui_?"

"Do you mind letting me talk for awhile?"

"Sure. What would you like to talk about?"

While the meisters walked ahead, Liz and Patty hung back with Esme.

"Quite a set of pipes on that meister, huh?" Liz said.

Esme simply shrugged, as if to say, _you get used to it_.

Liz frowned. "You don't say much, do you?"

"She's just like those British guys with the furry hats, sis!" Patty exclaimed. "No matter what you do to them, they won't say anything!"

It was at this point, they heard some commotion coming from their meisters.

"Please, expose your other shoulder!" Kid pleaded.

"Why?" Bella asked.

"You can't have one shoulder exposed and leave the other covered! There's no symmetry in that!"

"... Symmetry? What's that?"

Liz sighed. "And here we go."

"Symmetry is perfect balance of left and right," Kid explained, in way that showed he had said this many times before. "One side looks exactly like the other. Symmetry is what's most important in the world."

Bella cocked her head. "Sounds boring to me."

Kid couldn't believe she just said that.

"Where's the fun if _everything_ is perfectly balanced?" Bella went on, rocking back and forth on her feet. "Everybody needs a little disarray and chaos in their life. Makes things more _intéressant_."

"How dare you say symmetry is boring!" Kid cried. "Have you no soul?"

"You're the grim reaper," Bella said, smiling and not getting the insult. "You tell me."

Kid looked ready to strangle the girl, so Liz decided it would be a good time to intervene. The last thing she wanted was Esme gutting her meister like a fish.

"Uh, hey Kid!" Liz said, pulling Kid back by his shoulders. "Why don't we have Bella show us Esme's weapon form! The file didn't say what it was, and I'm _really_ curious."

"Me too, me too!" Patty agreed.

Kid sighed and collected himself. "Very well. Bella, would you-"

"Okay!" Bella agreed. "Esme!"

Esme gave a sigh, and morphed in a flash of greenish light. Bella grabbed onto the weapon's handle, spun it around, and threw it over her shoulder. The glow dispersed.

"What do you think?" Bella asked.

Kid stared in complete and utter shock.

Esme had become a huge dual-bladed battle ax. The handle was a three feet long and a glassy obsidian color, while the curved blades shone a gun-metal gray. The head of the ax held a rectangular green stone. It was beautiful, and slightly scary.

"Well, I suppose it's a weapon suited for someone called 'Bella the Beheader'."

* * *

_**Black*Star and Tsubaki/Dorje and Nuba**_

When the school was being remodeled, Lord Death thought that installing a training area would be a good idea. Students could now sharpen their skills without causing maximum property damage. The training area was where Black Star and his trainees were now.

"Listen up, my disciples!" Black*Star hollered, going into full-blown cocky mode. "You're lucky to have such a big star as your mentor! Stick with me, and soon the whole school will be whispering your names! Not as much as they'll be whispering mine, of course!"

If Black*Star hadn't been so busy pumping up his own ego, he would've noticed that the brothers ignored everything he just said in favor of their latest argument.

"Black*Star, I don't think they heard you," Tsubaki said quietly. "They've been arguing about who burned their dinner last night for the past ten minutes."

This angered Black*Star. How _dare _they ignore the big guy who defeated a kishin_ and _surpassed the gods! "HEY! LISTEN TO YOUR MENTOR'S VAST WISDOM!"

Dorje and Nuba simply gave Black*Star a cold glare, then dove straight back into their argument.

Black*Star narrowed his eyes. "Tsubaki, kusarigama mode."

Tsubaki didn't like that look in his eye. "Black*Star, what are you planning?"

"Your meister gave you an order, Tsubaki."

Tsubaki sighed and did as she was told. Once the transformed chain scythe was in his hands, Black*Star took one of the blades and threw it at the bickering brothers.

_Maybe this will get their attention_, Black*Star thought. _Assuming they're able to dodge it, that is_.

Then, as quick as the blink of an eye, Nuba morphed in a flash of bright blue light, and Dorje held him up to block the blow. The kusarigama blade bounced off a big shield.

"Whoa!" Black*Star gasped in awe. Some of it from Nuba's weapon form, the rest from their quick reflexes.

"**Nuba's weapon form... is a shield?**" Tsubaki added, also a bit surprised. A demon weapon's weapon form was meant primarily for offense. But a shield was for _defense_. How could you attack with it?

The shield was golden in color, with silver around the edges. In the middle of it was a big polished red stone.

Dorje released a breath he hadn't been aware he'd been holding. "Phew, that was a close one."

Nuba's image flashed in the gleaming metal of the shield. (This being the reflection of his soul, his bandanna and shirt were missing.) He looked pretty ticked off. "**What the crap was that for! You could've taken our heads off!**"

Dorje held his brother in front of him. "Chill, Nuba. That attack was probably just to get our attention. I doubt he actually meant to hurt us."

"**No way! I'm now convinced that this guy is a complete psycho!**"

"Dude, you are _way_ to quick to judge."

"**No, I'm not. It took me 13 years to judge you as a complete jackass.**"

And thus begun another Phillips Brothers argument. And pretty stupid-looking one, considering Dorje was yelling at a shield.

Tsubaki sighed as she returned to human form. "These guys are hopeless."

Black*Star crossed his arms and nodded. "You said it."

* * *

_**Maka and Soul/Dylan and Hana**_

"... And last, but not least, this is the library," Maka said, gesturing to the room around her. She and Soul decided that giving Dylan and Hana a proper tour of the school would be a good place to start. (Well, _Maka_ did, anyway. Soul didn't really care.)

"Wow, this is almost as big the library in my house!" Hana said.

"How big is your house?" Soul asked. The school's library was pretty big as it was.

Hana didn't answer, instead pulling a book off a self and began skimming it. Maka couldn't help but smile. It was hard to find people who truly appreciated books at the academy. She turned to look at Dylan, and see how he was reacting. He was currently leaning back in a chair, aiming a dart at one of the wall sconces that looked like Lord Death's mask. He threw the dart, and it made its mark right the mask's forehead.

"That's disrespectful," Maka pointed out, plucking the next dart he was about to throw out of his hand.

"If Lord Death doesn't have a sense of humor, that's his problem," Dylan replied, shrugging.

Maka felt a vein pulse in her head. Dylan had been giving off this attitude all day. It was the attitude of someone who didn't care that he was at the DWMA, and most likely preferred not to be there.

_Stop it, Maka_, she scolded herself. _He's probably just nervous about his first day, that's all. Maybe I should try to break the tension_.

"So, Dylan, your file said that you're from a Navajo reservation," she said. "What's it like living there?"

Dylan shrugged. "Nothing really interesting to tell. It's pretty much like living anywhere else. Only more boring."

Cue a sweat drop from Maka. _This is getting us nowhere_, she thought. She glanced at Soul, giving him a "you're good with people, talk to them" look.

Soul sighed and turned to Hana. "So how does a weapon from Tokyo meet up with Plays With Darts over there?"

"That was racist and you know it!" Dylan shouted at him.

Maka made a mental note to chop Soul later, and remind him to be a little bit more politically correct.

Hana flinched and hid behind her book. "Well... um..."

Dylan sighed. "Hana, he was just asking a question. He wasn't threatening you."

Hana seemed unsure of that, so she didn't say anything. Dylan sighed again, as if this kind of behavior was normal.

Maka decided to change the subject again. "Okay... so, is it true you're related to Charles Longbow?"

Dylan narrowed his eyes, and made a expression that said _oh great, this again_. "He's my granddad."

Maka clapped her hands. "I can't believe it! You're related to a school legend! That is so awesome! And as far as I can tell, your aim is just as great as his!"

Dylan knit his eyebrows in annoyance. Maka would've gone on all day, if Hana hadn't suddenly tackled her meister.

"Dylan, no!" Hana shouted, panicking to the point of ridiculousness. "It was a simple question, don't do anything to her! Besides, her dad is a Death Scythe, so she could get us in real trouble!"

"I wasn't going to do anything!" he protested.

"Don't you lie to me! I know that look! You were two steps away from killing her!" She looked up at Maka, still panicking. "PLEASE FORGIVE MY MEISTER'S TEMPER! HE REALLY DOESN'T GET ALONG WITH HIS-"

"Hana, weapon form, NOW!"

Hana yelped and disappeared in flash of lavender/blue light. She reappeared in Dylan's hands as a compound crossbow.

"Sorry about that," Dylan said, getting up and brushing himself off. "That's the only way I can calm her down. Being in weapon form soothes her nerves."

"**It's true**," Hana admitted.

"A crossbow, huh?" Soul said. "Cool."

"You're a bow meister, just like your grandfather!" Maka said excitedly.

Dylan looked annoyed again. "_Crossbow_ meister. A crossbow is better and way more accurate than a regular bow."

Maka winced, knowing she'd said the wrong thing again.

"Hey, why do you get bent out of shape whenever someone mentions your granddad?" Soul asked. "If he is really is that famous, wouldn't you be a little more happy about it?"

Dylan rolled his eyes and slung his crossbow over his shoulder. "You would think so. Listen, the only reason I came to this school was so I could get off the rez. I didn't come to live up to my granddad's reputation, or try to outshine all his accomplishments. That would be a little pathetic."

Maka frowned, because what Dylan just said pretty much summarized her existence at the academy.

Dylan tossed his weapon into the air, and Hana transformed back while landing on her feet.

"Well, shall we move on?" he said, as if nothing had just occurred.

He and Hana exited the library. Soul and Maka watched them leave.

"That guy is kind of a jerk," Soul said.

Maka said nothing, instead just crossed her arms and scowled.

* * *

At last, the school day was over, and Maka's friends had come over to her and Soul's apartment for dinner.

"So you and Ms. Marie were lost for the whole day?" Liz asked Crona.

Crona was sitting in a corner, looking rather sullen. Ragnarok was resting his chin on Crona's head.

"She said she didn't know her way around the school, since they rebuilt it and all," Crona replied in what sounded like a whimper.

Black*Star scarfed down his dinner, talking while he was chewing. "Ms. Marie could get lost in her own closet. It's that simple."

Soul nodded. "You can say that again."

"Hey, everybody!" Blair said, waltzing into the room. (Thankfully, she was fully clothed.) "Thought I'd see how everybody was doing before I went to work."

"Hi, Blair," the kids said in unison.

Maka came in with a salad bowl. "Oh, hey Blair. Heading down to Chupa Cabra's?"

Blair nodded. "Yeah. But before I go, I have to know. How was everybody's day today?"

"Oh, it was fine," Kid replied.

"Yeah, great," Tsubaki added.

"Couldn't be better," Maka said, smiling.

There was a short pause, in which everybody looked at each other, then let it all loose.

"AHHHH! IT WAS HORRIBLE!"

The sudden shout startled Blair, making her hair stand on end. (Try this with your cat. If you startle it, in theory its tail should puff up.) Realizing that now would be a good time to jet, Blair turned into a cat and lept out of the nearest window. Meanwhile, the students were just getting fired up.

"Bella wouldn't stop talking!" Kid yelled. "The only time she wasn't talking was when she stopped to breathe! She's like Patty on a sugar rush! Not to mention she mocked symmetry itself!"

"That Esme _never_ talked!" Liz complained. "She's an emotionless freak! And at one point I accidentally tripped Bella and she looked like she wanted to murder me! If Bella hadn't stopped her, I'd be dead!"

"I bet she scares you more than ghosts, huh, Big Sis?" Patty asked.

"You got that right!"

"Dorje and Nuba can't agree on anything!" Tsubaki yelled. "They spent the entire time arguing! I bet if you stuck them in front of the ocean, they'd argue whether it was bluish green or greenish blue! It's a miracle that they're able to match soul wavelengths!"

"Tell me about it!" Black*Star agreed. "Besides the whole arguing thing, they ignored me the entire time! Even when I giving valuable advice! I refuse to tolerate that kind of disrespect!"

"Dylan was a complete jerk!" Maka hollered. "It took all my willpower not to Maka Chop him to death! He's a slacker, and doesn't even care that he's at the DWMA! He has no respect for his family's accomplishments either!"

"Hana is a complete spaz!" Soul continued. "Even if things seem to be going the slightest bit bad, she acts like the sky is crashing down on our heads! She had no idea how to keep her cool!"

After saying their fill, they all stopped to breathe, since they forgot to during their rants. Once their heart rates had slowed, they all laughed.

"Looks like we all got saddled with people who drive us crazy," Maka laughed.

"Why would Stein team us up with people who are our complete opposites?" Black*Star wondered.

"Knowing the Nutty Professor, I bet he's trying to mess with us," Soul guessed. "Just you wait. It'll turn out to be that."

"We have got to get out of this assignment," Kid declared. "I can't spend another minute with Bella, let alone two more days."

"One of us should talk to Professor Stein tomorrow," Tsubaki suggested. "If we can't get out of the assignment, maybe we could get him to let us switch trainees. I think Black*Star and I could handle Bella and Esme."

"I'd rather have two arguing idiots than a complete jerk and a spaz," Soul said.

"Dylan's kind of cute, so I wouldn't mind if Kid mentored him," Liz agreed.

"Cute boy, cute boy!" Patty added.

Kid crossed his arms. "I don't care if he's 'cute' or not. He and Hana looked rather symmetrical to me, so I wouldn't mind taking them on."

"But who's going to ask Professor Stein?" Crona piped up, wanting to part of the conversation.

This was a very good question.

"NOT IT!" Soul, Kid, Lix, Patty, Black*Star, Tsubaki, Ragnarok, and Crona shouted.

"Not it!" Maka shouted, but after the others had yelled it first. "Darn it!"

* * *

"So you and Crona were lost all day yesterday?" Stein asked, sipping his coffee.

It was the next day at school. Class didn't start for another hour, so Stein was getting some work done in his new office.

"It's not my fault!" Marie argued, nearly spilling her own coffee in the process. "When they remodeled the school, they changed everything."

"I could buy you a GPS, if that would help."

"Ha ha, you're hilarious."

Marie opened the office door to leave, almost colliding with Maka.

"Oh sorry, Maka!" Marie apologized.

"That's okay, Ms. Marie," Maka assured her.

Marie smiled and left. Maka walked to the Stein's computer, standing behind him.

She glanced at the monitor. "What'cha working on?"

Stein sipped his coffee again and hit some keys. "Nothing much. Just a little problem Lord Death gave me to solve. For a few weeks now, meisters and weapons we have stationed all over the world have been brutally attacked."

"By who?"

"We don't know. No one's died yet, but the victims weren't able to give a clear description. All they did was babble on about a monster. Lord Death wants me to study the data, and see if I can find any connections." He re-positioned himself on his chair, so now he was sitting on it backwards. "But I'm sure you didn't come in here to talk to me about my work. What's the problem?"

Maka sighed. "It's about the students you're having us mentor-"

"No, you can't trade."

"Why not!" Maka complained. "You managed to pair us all up with kids we hate! Their personalities are the polar opposites to ours!"

"Sorry, but all pairings are final," Stein said. "Any luck in figuring out what the lesson to all this is?"

"No," Maka replied. "Can't you just tell us?"

"It wouldn't be much of a lesson if I told you without you learning it first. Now, shouldn't you be getting to class?"

Maka stormed out, and Stein turned back to his computer.

_Looks like the trainees are doing a better job than expected,_ Stein thought. _Hopefully Maka's team will be able to figure out what I'm trying to teach them_.

He continued going through the data, and came upon a video taken by a security camera during one of the attacks. He watched it.

_Not much light,_ he thought. _It's going to be hard to see anything substan_- He stopped. _No. No, that's not possible!_

Franken Stein wasn't a man you could scare easily. But what he saw on that tape terrified him.

* * *

Maka stomped down the hall, extremely irritated.

'_It wouldn't be much of a lesson if I told you without you learning it first.' That guy can be so... so... arghh!_ Maka thought. As she approached Class Crescent Moon, she slowed down and took a deep breath. _Okay, calm down Maka. Now's not a good time to be losing your cool_.

She smiled at that thought. 'Not losing your cool' sounded like something Soul would say.

Instead of entering the classroom, Maka sat outside the door. She had to stop and think about how she was going to handle this. _It's clear that my team and the trainees don't get along. But maybe that's because we don't understand them enough. If only there was a way to get to know them on a more personal level_. Maka came upon a sudden realization, and smacked her forehead. _Duh! I can use my soul perception_!

She sat up, and opened the classroom door a crack. The trainees were already at their desks.

_Alright, here we go_. Maka lowered her vision into Soul Perception.

She decided to look at Bella and Esme first. The girls were pouring over some French magazine. Bella's soul character was bright yellow, with tails and outlines in the shape of her hair. It was smiling and looked cheerful, just like its owner. Esme's soul character was bright green, with a calm expression and half-smile. It had a typical soul-tail on top, but also had white shapes on the forehead that represented Esme's bangs.

_The meister's soul is energetic and kind. She has a very helpful feel to her, as if she just wants to make people smile. She has a strong connection with her partner. The weapon's soul is extremely... solid? Is that right word? Yeah, solid. She acts as an anchor for the meister's hyperactive nature. But there's also a sadness to it. Like she misses someone._

Maka turned away from the girls, now focusing on Dorje and Nuba. The boys weren't arguing today, just refusing to look at each other. Dorje's soul was dark blue, with narrowed eyes and a scowl. It had spikes running along the top, resembling his hairstyle. Nuba's soul was a lighter shade of blue than his brother's, and it was also scowling. It had a simple soul tail on top, and triangular shapes coming down from its eyes, just like Nuba's real ones. The souls seemed to glaring at each other.

_Geez, even their souls look like they're fighting. Both souls are extremely stubborn; one refuses to give in to the other. I sense a bitterness there as well. A grudge, maybe? And yet, there seems to be a form of understanding between them. I can't really find a word for it._

Finally, she worked up the guts to look at Dylan and Hana. Dylan was leaning back in his chair, looking bored. He was dressed differently today. He had tied a camo-green headband around his forehead (it had a metal plate on it, kind of like Sid's), and was wearing a black sleeveless muscle shirt that covered his neck, camouflage cargo pants, fingerless gloves, and combat boots. **(This will be his new everyday outfit, btw.)** Hana was dressed the same as usual, and was reading a manga. Hana's soul was a lovely shade of lavender/blue, with dazed eyes and a half-smile. It had a straight soul tail on either side, resembling Hana's hair. Dylan's soul was a bronze-y color, similar to the color of his eyes. It wore a cocky, yet laid back expression that Maka found likable. It had a soul tail on top, and a thick white shape on its forehead that looked like the headband Dylan wore now.

_The weapon's soul is a very loving one. It tends to worry, and maybe even overreact, but that's only because it cares about her meister. The meister's soul is proud and strong. It's willing to do anything for something it believes in. Yet, it also feels... confused. Unsure of itself._

Maka sighed. _This isn't being nearly as helpful as I thought it would be. If anything, I'm even more in the dark with these kids. Maybe-_

Her thoughts were interrupted by a paper airplane hitting her in the forehead. 'Read me' was written on one of the wings. Maka unfolded it, and read aloud to herself.

"'Hasn't anyone ever told you looking at another person's soul without asking is rude?'" Maka dropped the paper abruptly. She looked back through the classroom door, trying to see who had thrown the paper airplane. Her eyes fell on Dylan, who was staring at her. Her eyes widened, and Dylan just smirked knowingly and looked away. Maka also looked away.

"Dylan was able to tell his soul was being read?" she muttered to herself.

"Hey, you going inside anytime soon, or are you waiting for an invitation?"

Maka jumped about a foot, and turned to see Black*Star and Tsubaki.

"Oh, hey guys. Yeah, I'm going in. Why wouldn't I?"

Black*Star raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything (for once.) He and Tsubaki walked inside, with Maka in tow.

* * *

Soul plopped down on the apartment couch. "Please tell we're done with this mentoring thing."

Maka plopped down next to him. "Sorry, but we still have the training exercise tomorrow."

Today's mentoring session hadn't gone well. If asked to explain, Maka wouldn't go into details. Instead, she would just say that once Kid tried to expose Bella's other shoulder, it all went downhill from there. Their friends were once again at the apartment as well. Black*Star and Tsubaki were sitting at the kitchen table, while Liz and Patty were putting an ice pack on the spot on Kid's face where Esme had decked him.

"I wonder what the training exercise will be," Tsubaki mused. "Do you think it'll be hard?"

"Who cares if it's hard?" Black*Star announced. "It'll be easy for a big guy like me! HA-HA-HA!"

Black*Star was apparently ignoring everything that had happened that afternoon. It involved trying to break up a fight between the Phillips brothers, two permanent markers, and a squirrel. (Don't ask.)

Kid held his ice pack in place. "Has anyone figured out what this painful experience is supposed to teach us?"

"It's only painful for _you_ because you got punched in the face," Liz pointed out. "By a girl."

"Don't remind me. And she didn't even have the courtesy to punch me again to make my face symmetrical. And it's not like I'm the only one. Soul got tackled by Hana, remember?"

"Yeah!" Patty giggled. "Soul called Dylan 'Squanto' and Hana tackled him before Dylan could! It was hysterical!"

"Soul, you really need to quit it with the Indian jokes. They're not funny, and kinda racist," Maka said to Soul.

"Cool guys aren't racist," Soul admitted. "But Dylan is kind of a jerk, so I think he can stand a little ribbing."

Maka did agree on that, but made Soul promise to stop anyway.

"I guess we can only hope that tomorrow will turn out okay," Maka sighed.

"And yet, I have a feeling it won't be," Soul disagreed.

* * *

**Whew! This first episode is turning out to be longer than I thought. I have to go into a third part. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles.**

**Next: ****New Semester at the DWMA! The Next Meisters and Weapons of Class Crescent Moon? Conclusion!**


	4. New Semester at the DWMA! Conclusion

**To Aoni, I'm sorry if Dylan is a little much, but he's the first character I created , so naturally I like him best and put a lot of thought into him. For those of you who aren't too thrilled at the student OCs, they won't be appearing often after this. Once every ten episodes or so they'll get their own episode, and make cameos the rest of the time.**

* * *

**Episode 1: New Semester at the DWMA! The Next Meisters and Weapons of Class Crescent Moon? Conclusion!**

* * *

Finally, the day had arrived. It was time for the special training exercise. They received orders from Sid that morning to come to the city's border with the desert, weapons already is weapon form. When they arrived, Sid and Nygus lead them into a big van, which brought them farther into desert. They soon stopped at a part of the barren wasteland riddled with large mesas.

"Alright, listen up!" Sid shouted. "You've spent the past two days with each other; let's see if you learned anything. The objective of the exercise is simple. There are three flags hidden is this area. To pass, each group must get at least one flag."

"Stein has laid traps all over the place to make this more of a challenge," Nygus continued. "The exercise will end when everyone makes it to the top of that mesa over there." She pointed to the rock formation she was talking about. "Any questions?"

"Yes. Stein said that also to pass, we have to figure out what this whole experience was supposed to teach us," Maka said. "Any chance you could give us a hint?"

"Sorry, but I don't give my students shortcuts," Sid said. "That's not the kind of man I was."

Of course that was his response.

"Well, you heard the zombie!" Dorje shouted, lifting his shield (brother). "Let's do this!"

The teams split apart, not quite sure what they were about to face.

Nygus crossed her arms. "Think they'll figure it out?"

Sid nodded. "I do think. It wouldn't be the first time they've done this kind of thing."

* * *

Kid rolled across the rough ground on Beelzebub, Liz and Patty (in gun form) in hand.

"**Hey, Kid, maybe you should wait up for Bella. She's falling behind**," Liz said.

She was right. Bella wasn't too quick, considering she had a giant ax to lug around.

"The farther I am away from her, the better I can ignore her asymmetrical appearance," he replied.

As Kid rode on, he could faintly hear Bella calling for him, but he decided to ignore it. He'd had enough of Bella's chatter for one lifetime.

"**Kid, watch out!**" Patty shouted suddenly.

Kid looked up to see a giant boulder falling off one the cliffs. (A soul character with a screw through its head was painted on it. Figures.) And he didn't have enough time to get out of the way.

All of sudden, someone kicked him aside. Kid ended up tripping on his skateboard and went falling face-first into the dirt. Once he managed to sit up, he was shocked to see Bella before him, her weapon slung across her back and holding the boulder up with her bare hands.

"**Whoa!**" Liz said in awe.

"**So cool**!" Patty added.

"Are you alright,_ Gamin_?" she asked worriedly, not even struggling underneath the weight of the rock.

Kid was speechless. "... How are you holding that up?"

Bella smiled. "I am stronger than I look."

With that, she tossed the rock aside as if it were no heavier than a baseball. She held out her hand, offering to help Kid up. He accepted it.

"We should get going, _non_?" Bella went on. "We still have to find a flag before the others."

Kid nodded. "Right. Of course." He paused. "Seriously though, how are you able to do that?"

Bella giggled and put a finger to her lips. "It's a secret. If I told you, I'd have to kill you."

She said this so sweetly and sincerely, Kid had a hard time deciding whether or not she was kidding. He looked down at Beelzebub. "Um, so, if you want, I could recall Beelzebub. That way you would be able to catch up with me."

"No need," Bella said, waving her hand dismissively. "I came prepared."

She reached into her backpack and pulled out a pair of roller skates. "I brought the most symmetrical pair I could find!"

Kid examined the skates and gave his approval. It seemed to him that Bella was at least trying to make an effort. Now if only she would expose her other shoulder...

"**Kid, she's leaving without you,**" Liz pointed out.

Kid was brought back into reality, and soon was following after Bella. As he got close to her, he could hear her begin to babble away. _Oy vey._

"Hey, do those look like cannons to you?" he heard her say.

Kid looked and saw that she was right. _Here we go again_, he thought.

If Esme had any input about this situation, she wasn't talking.

* * *

"YA-HOO!" Black*Star hollered, climbing up one of the rock walls. "Any sign of the flag yet?"

"**No**," Tsubaki, who was in ninja sword mode, replied. "**Prof. Stein must've hid them very well.**"

"Hey, Black*Star!" Dorje shouted up to him. "You shouldn't just go running off! Nygus said there were traps, you could set one off!"

"You forget what a big star you're talking to!" Black*Star called back. "It'll be fine! I can totally handle anything the Professor can come up with-"

He stepped on a rock, which then sunk into the ground. With a noise that sounded like a million zippers being zipped up at once, long writhing cords shot out of crevices in the rock. One wrapped Black*Star's waist, and another wound itself around Dorje's ankle. Both boys were lifted high into the air.

"For such a big star, you're an idiot!" Dorje yelled.

"**You're just realizing that now?**" Nuba asked.

"Nuba, shut up!" Black*Star shouted before Dorje could. "You guys can fight later! For now, let's focus on getting out of these cords!"

It was the first non-ego-inflating thing Black*Star had said in awhile, so the brothers decided to listen.

"Tsubaki, shuriken mode!"

"**Right!**"

Tsubaki morphed, freeing one of Black*Star's arms in the process. With one swift movement, he threw Tsubaki, slicing through many of the tentacles, including the ones that held him and Dorje.

"More incoming!" Dorje shouted as he landed on his feet, pointing at oncoming cords. "Want me to help?"

"What are you going to do? _Shield_ them to death?" Black*Star snorted sarcastically as he landed as well.

Dorje rolled his eyes and looked down at his shield. "Nuba, mode two."

"**Don't tell me what to do!**"

"Just do it!"

"**Fine, but because I want to, not because you told me to.**"

Tsubaki only then remembered something she read in the Phillips brothers' file. Hadn't it said something about the weapon having two forms? Now that she thought about it, it had said that.

Nuba transformed, this time becoming what looked like a large chakram. The handle that ran through the middle was golden, with a tiny red stone in the middle. The jagged blade glinted silver, and looked very sharp. Dorje tossed Nuba into the air, and as he came down, spin-kicked him. The chakram ricocheted off the cliff walls, slicing and dicing many of the cords. Nuba soon slid back into his brother's hands.

Dorje grinned. "For the record, that's why I wear steel-toed boots."

Black*Star stared for a moment, then also grinned. "Not bad. But you'll never be as much of a star as me!"

Dorje stopped smiling. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

At this point, more tentacles shot out, so Black*Star and Dorje had to focus and attack. Both were currently thinking, _How many of things are there_?

"Makes you wonder how the other teams are doing!" Dorje shouted, tossing his weapon at the tentacles.

Black*Star spun Tsubaki. "Who cares? All that matters is that_ I_ win the exercise!"

"You mean 'we'."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

* * *

"I told you nothing was up here!" Maka shouted, gasping for breath as she laid down on the flat mesa. Dylan had insisted on climbing all the way up there to search for the flag. She was gripping Soul's shaft so hard, her knuckles were turning white.

"Hey, it was worth a shot," Dylan, having not even broken a sweat. He'd climbed to the top like a monkey.

"How did you climb up here so fast?"

"There's a canyon right next to my home town. Climbing these flat-tops aren't too different from climbing the gorges back home."

Maka, having rested a bit, loosened her grip on Soul and stood back up. "Well, at least being up here gives us a chance to get our bearings." She looked around, shielding her eyes from the bright sun. It seemed to cackling especially hard today, as if mocking Maka's hardship.

Dylan took out Hana (she'd been slung across his back in crossbow form), aiming her at random spots, probably to keep himself ready. "So, any ideas?"

"You could look around too, you know."

"Ah, but I'm only your lowly trainee. You're the mentor. You look."

"Slacker," Maka muttered under her breath. She continued to search, walking around a bit. She soon came close to the edge, and heard a crumbling sound.

"Maka, look out!" Dylan warned.

"Huh-" was all she managed to get out before the ground collapsed under feet.

"**Maka!**" Soul shouted. Not that it did much good, since he was falling with her.

You probably want to hear how Maka took this in stride, laughed in the face of death, etc. Truthfully, she was screaming bloody murder. Any other occasion, she would've used Soul's blade to slow her descent, but she had fallen to far away from the cliff wall to do so.

The next she knew, Dylan was falling right next to her.

"Hold on!" he shouted. He pulled out Hana and some rope, quickly wrapping it around the spot on the crossbow where the arrowhead would usually go. He wrapped one arm around Maka's waist, and with his other arm, aimed his crossbow. An arrow made of blue/violet energy crackled into existence. (An arrow made of the meister's compressed wavelength, Maka couldn't help thinking. Just like the 'bullets' from Kid's guns.) Dylan fired it, impaling the rope onto one of the trees on top of the mesa. The two swung around, landing on a small cliff in the side of the mountain.

Dylan set Maka down. As soon as he did, the rope became slack and fell to his feet. The soul arrow had dissipated.

Dylan crossed his arms. "Are you sure you're the chick who killed the kishin?"

"Of course I am, shut up!" Maka shouted, but also knew that Dylan had a point. She had been in much worse situations than this, and held her own each time. And just now she'd almost died because she hadn't watched where she stepped. What caused her to become so careless?

Then it hit her. She'd been so focused on what a slacker Dylan was being, she hadn't concentrated on the assignment! This infuriated Maka to no degree.

"**Leave Maka alone**," Soul yelled, the eye on his shaft narrowing in anger. "**At least she's ****_trying_**** to complete this stupid exercise. What have you done?**"

Dylan gave the scythe a look. "I'm not going to argue with you while you're in weapon form. That just makes me look stupid."

"**Trust me, you don't need my help to look stupid.**"

"Why don't you return to human form and say that to my face, Eater!"

"**Enough! Can't you see that all this fighting is tearing us apart!**"

Hana had shouted that last part, which was just another example of her panicking. Everyone stared at the crossbow, because up until now, she'd been fairly quiet.

"Uh, Hana, I doubt it's that bad," Maka assured her.

Inside her soul space, Hana hid behind her hands, looking quite embarrassed. "**Oh, right. Sorry.**"

**("Soul Space" is what I'm calling that black void where weapon's souls appear unclothed and all glow-y. You know what I'm talking about.)**

Soul sighed, his image appearing on the scythe's blade. "**Whatever. Now that we're not falling to our deaths, anybody have an idea on finding those flags? I want this stupid thing over and done with.**"

Maka agreed with him on that. "If only there were some way to know where Prof. Stein has been. Like a trail or something. Then we could just follow it, and it'd lead us straight to the flags."

"**Now that you mention it...**" Hana began.

Dylan shook his weapon. "Hana, don't even think about it!"

"**Dylan has an ability that could help,**" she finished.

"No way!" the agitated meister shouted. "Last time I tried it, I got a migraine that lasted for three days!"

"**Don't remind me. You wouldn't stop complaining about it the entire time.**"

"What ability?" Maka asked.

Dylan, having been caught, took a deep breath and answered. "It something that's been passed down my in my family for generations. It's called 'finding the soul path'."

In his soul space, Soul crossed his arms. "**'Finding the soul path'? Never heard of it.**"

"It's kind of similar to Soul Perception," Dylan went on, rubbing the back of his head. "Wherever a person goes, they leave a little bit of their soul wavelength behind. Meisters in my family have the power to sense this residual wavelength, and follow it. It's one of the reasons my gramps was such a good meister."

Maka had never heard Dylan talk about his grandfather without sneering, so this was a sign he was serious.

"Is that how you were able to tell I was looking at your soul the other day?" Maka asked.

Dylan nodded. "Yup. You're not very good at concealing your soul. Work on that. Anyway, _I'm_ not very good at using this power, so I can't guarantee it'll even work."

"But are you willing to try?" Maka said, daring him to slack off again.

Dylan was silent, then groaned. "Okay, fine."

He put Hana across his back, then lifted his arms to his chest and made a weird gesture with his hands, pressing them together. One hand was clenched into a fist, and the other stuck up his index and middle fingers. Dylan closed his eyes, concentrating. When he opened them, his eyes were glowing faintly.

"_Finding the soul path_," he said in a somewhat echoing voice.

From his field of vision, everything around Dylan darkened. Surrounding him were ghostly trails of glowing energy, all different colors. He could see orange and bluish-white trails leading straight up, showing where Maka and Soul fell from earlier.

"Alright, I'm picking up a lot of trails," Dylan said, sweating a little from strain. "Some of you two, others from me and Hana. That pink haired kid you hang out with came through here at one point, too. That energy is just barely there. It must've been awhile ago."

Maka remembered the day Crona had attempted to run away, but banished the thought. She needed to focus. "Continue. Do you sense Prof. Stein?"

With a bit more searching, Dylan came across a greenish-yellow wavelength that gave him the inexplicable urge to dissect something.

"Found him. The trail is day or two old, but he's definitely been here."

"Can you follow it?"

"Does Stein have a screw through his head?"

Maka took this as Dylan's way of saying yes. They climbed the rest of the way down of the mesa, and waited for Dylan to take them in a direction.

"**Well?**" Soul said. "**Lead the way, Sacajawea**."

Maka banged Soul against the rock wall. (Luckily, Dylan hadn't heard that comment.)

Dylan decided on a way to go, and they were off.

* * *

In the end, everyone managed to arrive at the flags' location at the same time. But it was clear they had a hard time getting there. Kid and Bella had paintball stains all over their clothes. (Kid somehow managed to still look symmetrical.) Dorje and Black*Star had what looked like porcupine needles sticking out of their skin. Maka and Dylan looked the most worst for wear. They had scratches and their clothes were torn up, as if they were chased all the way there by wild dingoes.

"After all that, all three flags were hidden in the exact same place?" Black*Star shouted. "Arghh, I'm gonna kill that mad scientist!"

"We were ambushed by rabid porcupines!" Dorje added. "And for what? A flag smack dab in the middle of a clearing we were nowhere near?"

"At least you weren't attacked by paintball cannons!" Kid shouted at them. "Those things hurt!"

"We would've gotten out of that sooner if you hadn't insisted on staying behind to be hit several more times to fix your symmetry," Bella pointed out. She said this like it were sensible, and not in a mean way at all.

"Well, I bet_ none_ of you were dragged to every single trap in the area!" Maka shouted, glaring at Dylan.

"You wanted the path Stein took, I gave that to you!" Dylan shouted back. "You should've realized it would lead us to all the traps he set!"

This lead to a full-blown argument amongst the meisters. (The weapons had the sense to stay out of it. They had their own issues to sort out.)

"You guys are so annoying! I can't believe Prof. Stein made us 'mentor' you!"

"Mentor us? All you guys did was give us the grand tour! You didn't teach us anything we didn't already know!"

"You know nothing of symmetry! All you do is talk, talk, talk!"

"Symmetry isn't everything! _Vous devez apprendre à vous détendre_!"

"I haven't had this big a headache since the last time I saw Excalibur! A star as big as me can only take so much!"

"For the love of God, would you lay off this whole 'star' business? You are such a-"

Well, you get the picture.

* * *

The weapons stayed out of their meisters'... discussion, instead having the sense to remain in their Soul Space.

Soul rubbed one of his temples. "**This is so uncool. We're supposed to be working together.**"

Nuba put his arms behind his head. **"I've seen something like this once. A kid on my street locked a dog and cat together in his yard. You should've seen the fur fly**."

Tsubaki crossed her arms. "**It's partially you new students' fault. You guys didn't even try to get along with us.**"

"**Oh sure, blame the new kids**," Hana said, rolling her eyes. "**We're all going to fail this assignment, and it's going to be ****_your_**** fault!**"

"**Our fault?**" Liz said. She pointed a finger angrily in Hana's direction. "**Listen, sweetie. If anyone's to blame, it's Stein! He's the one who paired us with our polar opposites!**"

Naturally, Esme blew hair out of her face, but didn't say anything. Now the weapons were in a huge fight of their own. (Like meisters, like weapons, I suppose.)

"**Uh, hey, Soul?**" Patty asked, since Soul was keeping out of the new argument.

Soul turned toward her. "**Yeah?**"

"**I just had a thought.**"

"**Does it involve giraffes?**"

"**Nooope.**"

"**Then shoot.**"

"**After setting all those deadly traps, isn't a little weird that Prof. Stein just put all the flags in one spot? Seems like a lot of trouble to me,**" Patty said.

Soul was shocked for two reasons. One, Patty had said something that didn't sound completely silly. Two, she actually had a point.

"**Patty, you may be on to something**," Soul admitted.

"**I am? Wait until I tell Kid! This is so freaking awesome!**" Patty exclaimed happily.

* * *

"**Hey, Maka**!" Soul called out, appearing on the blade of the scythe.

"WHAT!" Maka shouted at her partner. Dorje had just insulted her lack of a chest, and had been on the verge of strangling him.

"**Isn't it a little weird that after all those traps, Stein would just put all the flags in the same spot, in plain sight?**"

That statement alone made everyone shut up. (Except Patty, who was now going on about what a smarty she was.)

"Soul-and Patty, I suppose- have a point," Kid said, finally. "Just finding all the flags in one spot is too easy."

"Anyone else smell a trick?" Black*Star said.

The three new meisters glanced at each other, as if they knew something Maka's team didn't. But they didn't offer any input to the situation.

"Well, I suppose there's only one way to find out," Black*Star went on. He walked over to the flags, and before anyone could stop him, plucked one out. Everybody flinched, expecting something to happen. An explosion, a rain of razor-sharp scalpels (trap #18 that Maka and Dylan faced), anything. But nothing happened.

"That was anti-climatic," Kid commented.

Everybody groaned.

"Way to jinx it, Kid," Dylan said.

A jinx, indeed. Not three seconds later, something burst out from under the ground._ Multiple_ somethings.

"You've got to be kidding me," Maka said in disbelief.

That was on everyone's minds. They managed to say their next response in unison.

"Where the hell did Stein get golems!"

* * *

"Where the hell did Stein get golems?" Nygus said, watching the whole scene from a safe distance away through binoculars.

"Okay, this is the final straw," Sid said. "I let the whole porcupine thing go, but this is too much. I wasn't the kind of man to let his students be slaughtered for a training exercise."

Sid took a cellphone out of his pocket, and dialed Stein's lab number. He was really going to let Stein have it this time. There were only so many levels of sadistic nature he could tolerate.

It rung for a minute, then Stein picked up. "_What do you want?_"

Sid raised an eyebrow. Stein sounded a little weird, but like he hadn't gotten any sleep recently. But he dismissed that thought and focused at the matter at hand. "I need to talk to you about the traps you set for the exercise."

"_What about them?_"

"What possessed you to put in golems? Those things are dangerous and unpredictable!"

"_... What are you talking about? I didn't add golems to the exercise._"

That was possibly the worst thing Stein could have chosen to say.

"Oh no," Sid said. "Stein, someone sabotaged the exercise. I'm going in to help."

"_Don't._"

"What? Why?"

"_Those meisters held their own against witches and the kishin,_" Stein replied. "_A few golems shouldn't be too much of a challenge for them. Stay back, and see how this plays out. Now, if that's everything, I have work to do._"

Stein hung up, and it took all of Sid's willpower not to chuck his phone in irritation.

"What did Stein say?" Nygus asked.

"In a nutshell? The students are on their own."

* * *

Maka sliced a small golem diagonally across the chest. "How many of these things are there?"

Answer: Too many. There were about three dozen smaller golems, no bigger than the students themselves. And there were also several giant golems to deal with. So far, only the little ones were fighting.

Kid fired several rounds into the head of another small golem. "We really need to speak to my father about his teachers' methods!"

Bella jumped into the air, be-heading a mini-golem during mid-flip. Black*Star spun his kusarigama, cutting multiple enemies in half. Dylan fired arrows, and Dorje whipped his chakram around like there was no tomorrow. So basically, there was no plan for attack, and everyone was pretty much doing their own thing.

"This isn't working," Maka muttered to herself. "We can't just kill them one by one. It's only a matter of time before the bigger ones start attacking."

She looked at the new kids. "Hey! I don't suppose any of you know how to do soul resonance, do you?"

"Nope!" Dylan shouted.

"_Non_!" Bella replied.

"That would be a negative!" Dorje answered.

Brilliant. If they didn't figure what to do fast, this wouldn't end well. As much as Maka hated to admit it, but they needed to swallow their pride and start working together with the (extremely aggravating) new kids.

"Hey, Soul, you thinking what I'm thinking?" Maka asked.

"**That we should swallow our pride and work with the noobs?**"

"Yup."

"**Fine. Whatever gets this stupid exercise over with.**"

Maka sprinted towards Dylan, placed her palm on top of his head, flipped over him, and falcon-kicked the small golem he'd been having trouble with.

Dylan grunted and gave her a look. "Hey! Since when am I your launching pad?!"

Maka stuck Soul in his face. "Longbow, shut up." She turned and proceeded to cut the same golem in half. "We may not like each other much, but if we don't start working together, we're gonna lose this fight." She made a fist. "Are you willing to pull your team together if I pull mine?"

Dylan looked surprised for a moment, then smirked. "Alright, Albarn. Took you long enough." He turned and shot another golem in the head before answering. "What do you have in mind?"

"At the moment, the mini-golems are a minor threat, and we can handle them easily. But any minute now, those giant ones are going to start attacking. I'm afraid that if we try to destroy them while they're inactive, they'll just come to life and defend themselves. That's where you guys come in. Incapacitate them, then my friends and I will finish them off with soul resonance. Sound good?"

Dylan nodded. "So basically, you handle the hard part? Sounds good to a 'slacker' like me."

Maka winced. "Sorry."

Dylan waved it off, then turned to slay another little golem. Maka worked her way through the sea of golems, spreading her plan to the others.

"It's better than dying," Kid said, agreeing to the plan and crescent-kicking an enemy.

"I'm with Kid," Black*Star added. Which said a lot, since they rarely agreed on anything.

Dylan passed the plan to his team, and they agreed as well. Finally, as the group was taking on the last few golems, the larger ones came to life, giving mighty roars.

"Showtime," Dorje said, giving a nod to Black*Star.

Giving battle cries of their own, the trainees charged, with their mentors close behind.

Kid shot at the huge golem repeatedly, distracting it enough for Bella to get a hit in.

"Bella, go!"

Bella came up behind the huge monster, and with a mighty swing, cut off one of it's arms.

"_Ma parole_, it's seems I've made you asymmetrical," Bella said in feign sympathy. This faded quickly, being replaced with a grin that bordered on sadistic. "Let's fix that."

Kid watched her as she removed the other arm, impressed at her accuracy.

"Maybe she does know something about symmetry," he mumbled to himself.

"Kid, you're up!" Bella shouted.

Esme's image appeared in one of the ax blades. She nodded, giving Kid the okay.

Dorje went up next. Black*Star expected him to use the chakram, but was surprised he had Nuba shift to shield form. He threw the shield, having it ricochet off a rock wall and hitting the golem in the head, knocking it over.

"Saw that one in a movie," Dorje admitted.

"**Black*Star, Tsubaki!**" Nuba added, appearing on the shield. "**Spotlight's yours!**"

Dylan pulled out a real crossbow arrow out of his pants pocket, and fired it into the air. It split apart, resembling a some kind of bolas.

"Tim-ber!" Dylan shouted.

The bolas wrapped around the golem, causing it to trip. The fall took out a part of its head.

"Okay Albarn, let's see what you got!" Dylan called over.

"**Go, Soul!**" Hana cheered.

You didn't need to give them an invitation.

"_Lets go, Soul Resonance!_"

The black needles appeared on Kid's shoulders, Tsubaki morphed into enchanted sword mode, and Soul's blade glowed with a fierce shimmering light.

"_Death Cannon!_"

"_Shadow*Star!_"

"_Witch Hunter!_"

In a matter of seconds, the golems were obliterated.

* * *

When the smoke cleared, everyone was tired and sick to death of this exercise. The sun was low in the sky, on the verge of falling asleep. So they grabbed their flags, and made their way to the mesa spot.

"That was little too easy, if you ask me," Soul said, helping Esme and Dorje reach the ledge of the mesa.

"We inspected the golems' remains," Kid said, lifting himself, Liz, and Patty up on Beelzebub. "Whoever built those used shoddy workmanship."

Maka lent a hand to Bella and Nuba, who were having a hard time reaching the top. "Shoddy or not, I want to know where Prof. Stein even got them."

Hana and Dylan had already made it to the top, and was currently arm wrestling Black*Star.

"Who cares?" Black*Star said as he pressed down on Dylan's arm. "I say we passed this test, and that's all that matters. We can beat up Stein for doing this to us later."

Tsubaki looked at the group, as Black*Star managed to flip Dylan over. "So... do we officially not hate each other?"

Dylan got back up and dusted himself off. "As long as Soul Eater promises to quit with the Indian jokes, we're cool."

Hana nodded in agreement. "I will agree to those terms.

Dorje shrugged. "Whatever. I don't need any more people to argue with."

Nuba snickered. "That's what I'm for."

Bella grinned, then unexpectedly gave Kid a bear hug. "I'd prefer to be _amis_ than _ennemis_."

Esme did Kid a favor and peeled her meister off of him.

"So, where are Sid and Nygus?" Liz wondered, looking around the mesa's flat surface.

"Over there!" Patty shouted, pointing.

Sid and Nygus were on the far edge of the mountain, both pacing nervously. They hadn't notice the students' arrival yet.

"Yo, Sid, Nygus!" Soul shouted.

The teachers looked up, and rushed over.

"Are you kids alright?" Nygus said, scanning them for injuries.

"We're fine," Maka assured her. "But no thanks to Prof. Stein. Why did you let him put _golems_ in?"

Sid and Nygus looked at each other, as if they were debating on how to answer.

"Uh, let's just say that we were just as surprised as you were," Sid replied. "But on the bright side, you guys all passed. Congratulations."

"Are you sure we passed? But we haven't figured out what the lesson was!" Maka said.

Sid waved it off. "Trust me, you've learned it. Now, if you'll all stay put, Nygus and I will go get the van."

After ignoring cries of '_no freaking way you're leaving us here_' from the students, Sid and Nygus began the climb down.

"Maka did raise a good question. Where did those golems come from?" Nygus asked her meister.

"I don't know," Sid admitted. "But I have a bad feeling about this."

* * *

So with Sid and Nygus off to collect the van, the kids had nothing better to do but stand around and wait.

"They keep telling us to 'figure out the lesson, or you'll fail', and then they say to forget about it?" Maka ranted. "Unbelievable."

"What's unbelievable is that you're still complaining about it," Soul deadpanned, sitting against a large rock, his arms behind his head.

"I'm actually a little mad myself," Black*Star said. "I really want to know."

Kid and his weapons nodded in agreement.

"You guys haven't figured it out? I thought you were supposed to be prodigies or something."

Maka and her friends perked up. An unfamiliar voice had spoken.

"Who said that?" Maka said tensely. Was it another enemy?

"Over here, brain trust."

The team turned their heads, and saw Esme with her arms crossed, looking quite annoyed. The group fumbled backward in shock.

"Wait, you can_ talk_?" Kid shouted, as if it were an accusation.

Esme pretended to think about it. "Well, my lips are moving, and words are coming out. _Pfft_, of course I can talk."

"Then why didn't you say anything before?" Liz said, her voice shaking. She'd spent the better of two days being terrified of this girl.

Esme shrugged. "I didn't have anything to say. Besides," She grabbed Bella by the shoulders. "With this chatterbox, I wouldn't have been able to get a word in otherwise."

Bella just giggled. "It's true!"

Esme ruffled Bella's hair, then turned back to the awe-struck team. "So, you want to know what this was all supposed to teach you, or not?"

They nodded slowly.

Esme gestured to her own team. "Think about these last two days. Stein paired you up with kids that you didn't get along with. He did that on purpose."

"I knew it," Soul said triumphantly.

"With so many new kids joining the school, chances were you guys would eventually be taken out of your comfort zone," Esme continued. "I.e., your resonance team. Lord Death wanted to show you that in life, there'll be times where you'll have to work with people you disagree with or don't particularly like. But to work as a team, you have to get past your differences and find a common ground. For your team, it's your friendship, but with others..."

"So what you're saying is, that this whole time Stein and Lord Death were testing to see if we can handle working with people who weren't our friends?" Maka asked.

"And annoyed us?" Black*Star added.

"Yup," Esme replied. "Although, I was reluctant to go along with this. Especially when Prof. Stein asked us to spend two days bothering you..."

"Wait, he_ asked_ you guys to be obnoxious?" Kid said in disbelief.

"Yeah," Dorje said. "He told us to play up our personalities, and see how far we could push you. I have to admit," He ran his fingers through his hair. "It was awesome messing with you guys!"

Nuba laughed. "Now_ that's_ something I can agree on!"

They couldn't hold it in anymore. The ex-trainees burst out into hysterical laughter.

"You should've seen your faces!" Hana guffawed.

"I thought you were going to blow a vein!" Dylan chortled.

"It was priceless!" Bella chuckled.

The main cast looked at these kids in disbelief. In the end, they were just a bunch of jerks.

"_MAKA CHOP, TIMES SIX!_"

The laughing jerks now all had huge dents in their heads. They gave a collective _Ow!_

Maka turned, satisfied. "Come on, everyone. Let's go home."

* * *

"Congrats on passing, Maka," Crona said as he, Maka, and Soul walked down the school's mission bulletin board hallway that next day.

"Guess it's okay you didn't die," Ragnarok added. (This was about as nice as he got.)

Maka and Soul barely registered the compliments.

"I usually like passing, but this feels bittersweet," Maka sighed.

The day before, after getting the ex-trainees ice packs, the team allowed them to explain themselves. Stein had requested that they blow their general personalities to whole new proportions. In reality, Esme actually talked a lot more and Bella wasn't actually _that_ much of a chatterbox. Dorje and Nuba didn't actually argue too often, but that didn't mean they liked each other. Hana wasn't really a_ huge_ spazzy worry-wort, and Dylan wasn't half the jerk he pretended to be. But all this didn't change the fact that Stein actually asked them to push their buttons.

"Next time I see Stein, I'm really going to let him have it," Soul muttered. He was usually one to keep his cool, but even he had his limits.

"Maybe this wasn't so bad," Crona said. "You guys are friends with those kids now, right?"

After giving them another round of chops and more ice packs, the two teams agreed to at least be tolerant of each other.

Maka smiled. "To think we're looking to you, Crona, to brighten _our_ day."

Crona smiled back.

Soul gave a half-smile himself. "We must've hit a new personal low, but I am strangely okay with that."

They had a short laugh, then were interrupted by a beep on the school intercom.

"_Would meisters Maka Albarn and Crona, along with weapon Soul Eater, please come to the Death Room immediately?_"

One couldn't just ignore a summons to the Death Room, so the three quickly made their way, and soon were walking down the hall of guillotines.

"Wonder what Lord Death wants," Soul said. "Do you think it's about yesterday's exercise?"

"If that were the case, why would Crona be coming with us? And why didn't he call for the rest of our resonance team, or the new kids?" Maka pointed out.

Crona didn't give his opinion. (He was a little scared or Lord Death.) Ragnarok, didn't care either way, so he didn't say anything either.

Finally, they reached the Death Room.

"Wazzup everybody!" Lord Death greeted, waving a big blocky hand. "How are ya, good to see ya!"

"Hey, Lord Death!" the students greeted.

Along with Lord Death, Spirit, Stein, and Marie were also in the room. The latter three looked rather grim, as opposed to Lord Death's cheerful output. Spirit only gave Maka a short wave, which instantly triggered Maka's _something-is-seriously-wrong-here _sense.

"So, why did you call us up here?" Maka said. "Is there something wrong?"

"Before we do anything, we have a bone to pick with Stein!" Soul said. He pointed at Stein. "Golems? Really?"

Stein raised an eyebrow, but didn't reply.

"This isn't about yesterday's training exercise, but good job on that," Lord Death said. "Stein has recently discovered something, and he felt that you three deserved to be the first to know."

He nodded toward Stein, giving him the okay to speak.

Stein looked rather ragged. It was clear he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep in recent days. "Maka, do you remember the attacks I told you about the other day?"

"Yes. What about them?"

"I found the culprit."

Lord Death's mirror glowed, and a image appeared. It looked like it was from a security tape. This alone made Maka, Soul, Crona, and Ragnarok gasp.

"No way..." Soul said is disbelief.

"Why? W-why did h-have to be her..." Crona stammered.

"T-that's impossible!" Maka cried. "She's dead! I killed her!"

The image was fuzzy, and the darkness of the place made it difficult to see it, but there was no mistaking that silhouette. Those yellow, reptilian eyes. That evil smirk.

Maka was filled with a surge of dread. "There's no way that's Medusa!"

* * *

Eruka walked briskly down the stone corridor. If she was late, Lady Belinda would have her head.

She quickly ducked through the nearest door. The room she entered was moderately sized, with blood red silk covering the walls and ceiling. (Luckily, this time it was the right room. She and Free had gotten lost several times in the last month.)

Eruka bowed fearfully. "I'm here-ribbit! Sorry I'm late!"

Three people, two girls and a boy, sat on the floor in the middle of the room. At the sound of Eruka's voice, they all looked up.

The first girl looked 16-17 years old. She had chin length ash blonde hair, with messy bangs and two longer locks of hair twisted together in front of her chest, Medusa-style. She also had a nick in her left eyebrow. She wore a long purple turtle neck coat with a white zipper and tight fitting sleeves, lavender arrow patterns making an 'x' across her front. The coat exposed most of her bare stomach, despite falling to her ankles. Underneath, she wore purple short-shorts and long, lavender boots. On her ears were gold hoop earrings, and what stuck out most of all was the deep purple blindfold she wore across her eyes. Her expression was blank and emotionless.

The boy looked 18-19 years old. He had spiky red hair, with bangs spilling out from under the headband around his forehead. His eyes shone red, and he too had a nick in his left eyebrow. The previously mentioned headband he wore was black, with a white down-pointing arrow on the right. Around his neck was an immense scarf with four really long arrow-shaped tails coming from it, so thick it covered his mouth. He was shirtless, but had a black cross-shaped pattern running down his chest that covered his nipples, reaching from the base of his neck to just above his navel. He also wore black pants, black combat boots with olive-green straps, and black fingerless gloves. From under his scarf, he gave Eruka a sinister grin.

The last girl looked about 13 years old, but was possibly the scariest of the three. She wore a black sleeveless hooded top (the hood having white shapes that resembled snake eyes) that covered only her upper torso, and with the hood up, the only thing you could see were her cold olive-green eyes and wicked grin. Coming from under the hood were two thin silver braids that fell in front of her shoulders. Her fingernails and toenails were painted pitch black. On her left arm was a long black fingerless glove that reached to just below her shoulder. Her right arm was bare, except for two metal bangles, and a spotted snake tattoo slithering up her arm from the wrist to the shoulders. She also wore black bottoms with white arrows running down the side, the right pant leg stopping at her knee, and the left pant leg stopping just above her ankle. Her right foot had a long black toeless/heelless sock that covered her shin, and the left foot bare except for some bangles around her ankle. She was sitting cross-legged in front of a purple crystal ball.

"Just in time, Eruka," the younger girl said. "Status report?"

Eruka shivered. She hated that scratchy, hissing voice. But she gulped and followed her orders. "Of course, Lady Belinda. The Boa was caught on tape this time, just like you asked."

The girl, Belinda, cackled. "I know, I just saw their faces!" The ball held an image of a dumbstruck Maka. "Priceless! Oh, and tell Free he did a good job setting up those golems. You should've seen the looks on their faces then! I wish I'd caught that on tape!"

Eruka fought the urge to roll her eyes, since the last time she did that, Belinda tried to feed her to a shark. "Boa didn't find the object of interest, in case you're wondering. But Belinda, if I may ask, what was the point of this? People usually don't want to be caught, especially by Lord Death."

Belinda held up her index finger. "All part of the plan, my dear little frog. All part of the plan."

She turned back to her crystal ball, running her fingers over its smooth surface. "_Nake snake mamba mambaa._ The prologue has ended. Now the real story can begin."

* * *

**Maka:** We'd like to thank all of you for attending the first day of the new semester at the DWMA.

**Soul: **Actually, it was more like the first week. An extremely irritating first week.

**Maka:** We hope the experience was enlightening and taught you much. It was for us.

**Soul:** Did we attend the same academy, because that's not how I remember it. Anyway, next episode it's back to Italy! Maybe this time I'll get some all-you-can-eat pasta.

**Maka: **Soul, I'm trying to to give a formal thanks!

**Soul:** Well, you're taking too long!

**Maka:** _Maka Chop!_

**Soul:** OW!

**Maka:** Next time on Soul Eater: "_Snakes in the Shadows! Has Medusa Truly Returned?_" Read it, or I'll take your soul!


	5. Snakes in the Shadows!

_A sound soul,_

_dwells within a sound mind,_

_and a sound body._

* * *

"**Move faster, Bianca, it's catching up!**"

"I know that, Spada! Hush, so I can focus."

A woman in her mid-thirties ran into the Coliseum, hiding behind a pillar and stopping to catch her breath. She clutched her sword, fearing what was coming.

"This is bad," Bianca muttered. "That thing is the monster that has been attacking all the other meister and weapon pairs. We can't beat it, so what can we do?"

A man with a goatee, Spada, appeared in the sword's blade. "**Hope the _Santa Madre _takes pity on us.**"

Suddenly, there was a great roar. Bianca gripped her weapon even harder. "_Il nostro Padre nei cieli, sia santificato il tuo nome. Venga il tuo regno, la tua volontà sia fatta..._"

She was cut off. It had caught up.

High up in the night sky above Rome, there is a familiar sight. Screams of agony from the streets below, a witch on her broom watching with minimal interest, and the moon's mouth dripping blood.

The witch gave an aggravated sigh, resting her chin on her open palm. "Another day, another dead end. And once again, I'm reduced to siccing the Boa on some unfortunate yutzs from the DWMA." She pulled out a map from her nap-sac. "What's next on the list?" She ran her black fingernail over the locations. "Venice... been there. Pompeii... it would've been burned up with the rest of the city. Florence..."

She stopped, staring at the dot on the map. She smirked. Yes, Florence would do nicely.

"Eruka, reel in our little friend, will you?" she commanded.

"_Ribbit!_ _I don't know why I have to listen to you!_" the unfortunate frog girl replied telepathically.

"So you_ do_ want those snakes-which I remind you, I can control- to tear you apart?"

Eruka paused. "_Of course. Sorry, Lady Belinda. Can we at least wait until the meister and weapon are dead this time?_"

"No time. Now get moving," Belinda responded. "Go see where Naga and Stheno ran off to while you're at it. We're going to Florence." She stuffed the map back into her bag. "_This_ is going to be _fun_."

* * *

**Episode 2: Snakes in the Shadows! Has Medusa Truly Returned?**

* * *

The mission board. A usual hang-out spot in the academy, students came here to meet up with friends and see if there were any good missions to go on. Everybody wanted to create a death scythe, so they typically chose a mission that would get them the most kishin eggs. A certain meister and weapon duo were no different.

"I wonder if there are any good missions out there," Soul said, scanning the board. "Hey, there's a pre-kishin wreaking havoc in Peru. Wanna do that one? We've never been to Peru."

He looked at Maka, wanting her answer. To his annoyance, he found her not even paying attention. She was simply staring off into space, a depressed expression on her face.

"Hey, Earth to Maka," he said, waving his hand in front of her face.

She snapped back to reality. "Huh, what? Did you say something?"

"I was asking if you wanted to take the Peru mission," he replied. "Oh wait, never mind. Kilik just grabbed it."

Maka watched Kilik, Fire, and Thunder walk off with the mission description.

"I guess it doesn't matter if I want it or not now, huh?" Maka said apologetically.

Soul sighed, running his fingers through his pale hair. "Maka, are you feeling okay? You've been kind of out of it these last couple days."

"What do you mean 'out of it'? I'm as fit as a fiddle! Healthy as a horse!" Maka babbled. "Nothing's wrong! I'm perfectly okay!"

Soul gave her a knowing look. "Maka. You're still thinking about what Lord Death said, about the Medusa look-alike."

Maka sighed. Soul was right.

* * *

_**A couple days earlier**_

_"Dammit! Why won't that witch stay dead!" Black*Star shouted._

_After giving Maka, Crona, and Soul the news, they called in Black*Star, Kid, and their weapons to the Death Room, telling them about Stein's discovery._

_"How is this even possible?" Kid said, Liz and Patty hiding behind him. "Maka said her Genie Hunter move purified Medusa's soul."_

_"That's what we thought happened," Stein said, placing a cigarette between his lips but not lighting it. "That _is_ what happened. Marie and I saw her soul dissolve ourselves."_

_"I know. I _felt_ it falling apart," Maka added. She let out a groan. "Why is it that whenever we think that witch is dead, she always proves us wrong?"_

_Crona was sitting on the ground, rocking back and forth while hugging his shoulders._

_"It can't be her. She's dead. They promised she would stay gone. Lady Medusa can't be back. I don't know how to deal with this..."_

_Marie knelt beside him and rubbed his back in sympathy._

_"Hold on everybody, calm down!" Lord Death said, putting his hands in a 'take it easy' gesture. "We don't know for sure that's even really Medusa."_

_That piece of logic managed to get everyone to quiet down._

_"Medusa was a very skilled witch, as you all know," Lord Death continued, being sure to refer to Medusa in the past tense. "But we have to keep in kind that she was lucky to survive the first time she was killed. The chances of it happening a second time are extremely unlikely."_

_"Yeah, for all we know, the woman in the security tape could just be a lookalike, or a final deception Medusa set up before her death," Spirit said. "Until we get more information, there's no point in worrying about it."_

_For once, Spirit had a point._

_"Stein, Marie, Death Scythe, and I will be looking into this," Lord Death said. He perked up. "So all of you can sit back and relax a little! I'm sure this will turn out to be a huge mistake, anyway!"_

_The meisters relaxed a bit._

_"Okay, Lord Death," Maka said. "If you say so."_

_"Good, now all of you get back to class. We'll be sure to tell you if we find out anything new!"_

* * *

Maka gave a low sigh. "I know Lord Death and Papa said not to worry about it, but I can't get rid of this clawing feeling in my chest. When I killed Medusa, I felt... relieved. I knew she'd never be able to hurt Crona, Prof. Stein, or anyone else ever again." Her hand clutched the shirt space over her heart. "Now that I know there's a possibility she survived, it feels like I... failed. I failed everyone who was counting on me to put that snake woman in her grave." She threw down her arms, her hands clenched into fists. "I destroyed Asura! So why can't I kill a stupid witch!"

Maka was on the verge of tears, but did her best to hold back the oncoming sobs. She instead just looked down at her feet in shame.

"You're hopeless, you know that?"

Maka felt a hand rest on top of her head. She looked and saw Soul, shaking his head.

"Medusa was pretty crafty," he said. "Truth be told, even when we killed her, I kept thinking she would come back again."

Maka moved his hand away. "Wait a minute, you _expected_ to fail?"

Soul shrugged. "A little bit. But like your creepy dad said, there's a chance that lady could just be a lookalike, so stop stressing about it. It's uncool, and we did promise each other we would stay cool."

At the 'uncool' comment, Maka couldn't help but chuckle. Leave it to Soul to bring_ that_ into a conversation.

"Alright. I'll stop stressing for now. I'm sorry for being unprofessional," Maka apologized. "How about I let you pick the mission, to make up for it?"

Soul nodded. "Sure, Okay... how about that one? 'One meister and weapon pair needed to collect the soul of serial killer Lini Musso'."

Maka skimmed the mission description he was pointing to. "The suggested ranking_ is_ one star..." She stopped when she read the location. "Soul... this assignment is in Florence."

"Yeah, so?"

"Remember what happened last time we went to Florence?"

Soul glanced down at his chest, then back up at his partner. "Aww, that's all in the past. It's not like Crona's coming with us and putting another hole in me. Besides, I never got that all-you-can-eat pasta. Let's take it."

She lifted the mission off the board. "Hmm. I guess you're right. C'mon, let's take this to the mission lady."

* * *

"Word just got in," Stein said, lighting a cigarette. "Another team was attacked. This time it was the pair we have stationed in Rome."

"Yes, Bianca Abbadeli and Spada Drago," Lord Death remembered. "This is the second time a pair in Italy has been assaulted. Were they killed?"

"No, but let's just say it's going to be awhile before they make coherent sentences, let alone fight, again."

"Just like all the others," Spirit noted. "Whoever this person is, she doesn't seem interested in killing our agents. Not exactly Medusa's style, you have to admit."

"If it were really Medusa committing these attacks, she wouldn't hesitate to do away with our people," Marie added. "She was a vile, twisted woman."

Marie hadn't let it on, but she was taking the new developments worse than it seemed. Medusa had manipulated one of her favorite students, nearly drove the man she- er, nearly drove her partner completely insane. The possibility of her being alive like pouring salt into an old wound.

"That's true," Lord Death said. "The past attacks were also very random. There's no connection between all the victims, except they were all meister and weapon pairs."

"Do you think it's possible that the Medusa-lookalike is just trying to harm the school?" Spirit asked.

"If that's her plan, she's doing it in the slowest way possible," Lord Death replied. "We have hundreds of meisters out in the field. Attacking them one by one is not only a colossal waste of time, it's kinda stupid."

"And the Medusa we knew is anything but," Stein said, blowing out some smoke. "So question is, who is our Medusa doppelganger, and what's her motive?"

Stein gave the question time to sink in.

"Well, I've got nothing!" Lord Death said chipperly. "Looks like we'll just have to see how this plays out!"

The three other adults in the room sweat-dropped.

"Uh, Lord Death? It wouldn't hurt for you to take this a little more seriously," Stein said.

"Hmm..." Lord Death leaned to one side. "Maybe later. But in the name of safety, I'll have all missions to Italy canceled, in case our assailant decides to go for the full Italian tour. Marie, can you go down to the missions office and tell the woman in charge to remove any assignments going there?"

Marie nodded. "Of course, Lord Death. I'll get right on it."

She marched out the room. She was a woman on a mission.

"You do realize she'll get lost, right?" Spirit pointed out, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Lord Death admitted. "Oh well, it's too late now. Nothing left to do but wait for her to come back. Anybody bring a deck of cards?"

Spirit held up a deck.

"Excellent!" Lord Death said, giving a thumbs up.

Stein slapped his forehead.

* * *

"Hello again, Italy!" Soul announced, zipping down the street on his orange motorcycle. Maka sat behind him, arms wrapped around his waist so she wouldn't go flying off.

"Man, how long has it been, a year?" Soul went on. "Whatever. It's awesome to be back."

"Wow Soul, I didn't you liked the country this much, considering what happened last time we were here," Maka said.

"Like I said earlier, that's all in the past."

But the memory of that fateful night still crept into Maka's thoughts.

_"You should start paying attention to the things other people say. The doors here only open one way. They open inward."_

Maka shook her head furiously. No. She would _not_ think about that. She had been through much, much worse since then. She would not let something that was now so trivial hinder her judgement.

"Hey, wanna get that all-you-can-eat pasta first this time?" Soul asked. Maka had been so deep in thought, she hadn't realized Soul had continued the conversation.

She was about to scold him to focus, but bit her tongue. "You know what? Why not? The killings don't happen until after dark, anyway."

Soul looked back at his meister, surprised by her answer. "Seriously? Are you sure you're not still out of it?"

"Soul, eyes on the road!" Maka shouted suddenly. "Watch out!"

Soul brought the bike to a screeching halt. And just in time too, because he had been about to run over a girl kneeling in the street.

"Whoa, sorry about that," Soul said. "I didn't even see you."

Odd, since the girl stuck out quite a bit. She was wearing a white designer jacket over a purple top, white jeans, and purple boots. Her eyes were hidden behind a pair of silver wrap-around visor sunglasses.

"Next time, keep your eyes on the road instead of your girlfriend," the girl said, brushing herself off.

"She's not my girlfriend," Soul said, as Maka said at the same time, "He's not my boyfriend."

The girl (who, now that they thought about it, looked a little bit older than them) didn't reply. So Maka and Soul rode off.

"That was close," Soul said. "Now let's go find that pasta place!"

Maka rolled her eyes. "You nearly ran over some girl, yet all you can think about is pasta? And you say I'm the hopeless one."

Once they were out of sight, the girl (who hadn't been run over) ran her fingers through her ash blonde hair and adjusted her sunglasses.

"Belinda is _not_ going to like this..."

* * *

Marie leaned against the wall. She was officially lost. _Again_.

"This isn't fair," she whimpered to herself. "I spent weeks studying the maps of the school, and they went and changed everything during the repairs. How inconsiderate."

She turned a corner, nearly walking right into Kim and Jackie.

"Oh, sorry girls!" Marie apologized.

"Hey, Ms. Marie," the girls greeted.

"Don't mind me, just going to the missions office," Marie went on, walking ahead.

"Uh, the missions office is that way," Kim called out, pointing in the opposite direction.

Marie stopped in her tracks, feeling like an idiot.

"Do you want us to show you the way?" Jackie asked.

Marie shuffled back over to them, hanging her head in shame. "Yes please."

A few minutes later, the students managed to lead the incredibly misguided teacher to the missions office.

"Thanks, girls!" Marie said, waving goodbye to Kim and Jackie. She approached the mission's desk. "Excuse me, I have a message from Lord Death."

The lady at desk looked up from the papers she was reading. "Oh, Ms. Marie. Of course, what's the message?"

"He said to remove any missions going to Italy. It's too dangerous there right now."

"Oh dear. I wish you'd told me this sooner."

That lone statement made Marie racked with worry.

* * *

Finally, night had fallen in Florence. The grinning moon hung high above the city, as a young man ran through the streets.

"Somebody, help me!" he shrieked.

Something exploded at his feet, sending him flying.

"Nice try getting away, but it's not wise to aggravate me when I'm hungry," a growling voice said, the man it belonged to jumping to the ground.

The man was big, bald, and fat, wearing some sort of military uniform. He carried two giant pistols, and had many grenades strapped to his body. His eyes glowed red and his mouth was filled with razor sharp teeth.

"Your soul looks tasty," the monster grinned, slurping up his drool. "I think it'll make a great appetizer!"

The poor victim looked ready to pass out. This was the end...

"Serial killer Lini Musso!"

Musso stopped. Who dared to interrupt his meal? As he turned to see who the impertinent fool was, his 'appetizer' made a break for it.

Standing behind him was a young girl with ash blonde hair, wearing some sort of school uniform. In her hands was a wicked-looking scythe.

"Oh, a little girl thinks she can interrupt my meal and get away with it?" Musso snarled. "But I must admit, your soul looks especially scrumptious."

Maka narrowed her eyes. "Lini Musso, you have strayed off the path of humanity and become a kishin egg. Such an evil must be purged."

"How about I just kill you and eat your yummy soul instead?" Musso said, drawing his guns.

"**Talk about a one track mind,**" Soul said, the eyelid on his shaft lowering in slight irritation. "**Maka?**"

"Right," Maka agreed. "Let's go, Soul Eater."

Musso roared and charged, firing random shots from his pistols. Maka dodged them, and when the pre-kishin attempted to club her with the guns, she guarded on both sides using Soul.

"Die!" Musso shouted, preparing to toss a grenade.

Maka balanced Soul's shaft on her forearms and shoulders, spun him around her neck, lifted him over her head, and promptly sliced off Musso's hands.

"ARGHH!" the pre-kishin hollered in agony. Blood spurted from the wounds.

"Let's finish this," Maka said, holding her scythe in front of her.

She ran towards the flailing monster, ran up his chest, and did a flip off his head.

"In the name of Lord Death, your soul is mine!"

In one clean strike, she cut Musso in half. The monster's body converted into black ribbon-like energy, compressing until it became a floating red kishin egg.

Maka landed back on her feet. The blade of the scythe morphed, becoming the upper half of Soul's body. He bit down on the egg, swallowing it whole.

Soul transformed completely back to human. "While that pasta we had earlier was good, nothing beats an old-fashioned kishin egg. So, what number was that?"

Maka thought it over, then smiled. "That was number 58. We're more than halfway there."

"So only 41 kishin eggs and one witch's soul to go, right?"

"That's right. Good math."

"Thanks." Soul stretched his arms. "If that's all, let's get going."

"Wait," Maka said. "Don't you think we should report in to Lord Death?"

"Why? He didn't assign us this mission."

"I know. I want to ask him if he found out anything new."

The weapon crossed his arms. "I thought we agreed you wouldn't obsess over this."

They began walking down the sidewalk.

"I'm not obsessing, I just don't see the harm in asking," Maka insisted.

They turned a corner, and came face-to-face with a huge street festival. There were booths selling merchandise, people running around and shouting in Italian.

"Whoa, when did this get here?" Maka wondered.

"Looks like a block party or something," Soul noted. He gave his trademark sharp-toothed grin. "Hey, how about we check this out before you call Lord Death? Could be fun."

Maka had to admit, the festival _did _look enjoyable. She could smell the sweet scent of Italian pastries coming one of the booths that almost made her drool.

"Well, maybe..." she replied as she scanned the crowd.

Maka stopped. In the middle of the sea of people, there was someone wearing a black cloak with a hood. The person turned her head slightly, giving the meister a brief glimpse of her face.

_No_, she thought._ It can't be_!

"Hey, you!" Maka shouted.

The woman looked startled, and ran off.

Maka jumped into the crowd, chasing the mysterious lady.

"Maka!" Soul shouted, running after her.

The woman she was pursuing darted through the crowd, trying to lose the pair.

"Maka, what's wrong?" Soul shouted.

"That woman!" Maka answered. "I think that was Medusa!"

Soul narrowed his eyes. "You sure?"

"Pretty sure. Only one way to find out."

They continued the chase. Soon they left the cheerful carnival behind them, once again moving through the dark and eerie streets. If this woman was really Medusa, she was pretty quick. After much running, they cornered the woman in an alley.

"Nowhere to run," Maka said, gasping for breath. "Soul, transform."

"Right," Soul said and did so. The newly-transformed scythe spun in the air, as Maka caught and aimed him at the woman.

"Is that really you, Medusa?" Maka said, looking ticked. "Answer me!"

The woman's face was partially hidden by the hood of her cloak, but it was clear she was glaring at Maka.

"You know who I am, don't you? I'm Maka Albarn."

"_Ma... ka..._" the woman rasped, as if she were unsure.

_Large, dark room. Stone blocks, glowing ball. Man with metal in head. She like metal-head man? Boy/girl and woman. Lots of shocks. Screaming sharp stick. Angry girl with hooky thing. Bad music. Ears hurt. Little girl. Hooky thing too bright. She disappears._

The woman looked unsure before, but she now had an expression that was downright murderous.

"_Ma...ka...Al..barn..._" she hissed.

Maka tightened her grip. She had a bad feeling about this.

The woman shrieked with rage. From the folds of her cloak, something long and flexible shot out. Before the pair could react, this thing slammed into Maka's stomach, smashing her against the alley wall.

"**Maka!**" Soul shouted.

"I'm okay, Soul," Maka grunted. "Just had the wind knocked out of me."

But judging by her tone, Soul could tell she most certainly was not fine.

"_Ma...ka...Al..barn...!_" the woman hissed again, but more angrily.

Maka glanced down hoping to see what was holding her against the wall. To her shock, it looked like the body of a huge snake. It wrapped around Maka and Soul, throwing them out of the alley and into the road. Maka stood back up shakily, just in time to see the woman's cloak fall away.

"**Uh, I think it's safe to say that_ isn't_ Medusa,**" Soul decided.

It was a horrifying sight. She had Medusa's face and hairstyle, but that was the only normal thing about her. Her skin was made up of red and tan scales, her eyes brown with slit pupils. A forked tongue darted out of her mouth between sharp teeth. Her arms were actually two long writhing snakes, who also looked pretty pissed. Instead of legs, she had two long snake trunks. The only clothes she wore were a black bikini top and black skirt.

The creature roared. "_Ma...ka...Al..barn...will...die!_"

* * *

"Three of a kind."

"Royal flush."

"What the hell!" Spirit shouted, throwing his cards up in the air. "You have got to be cheating!"

Lord Death collected his poker chips. "You're just jealous because my poker face is better than yours."

"You're wearing a mask 24/7! How is that fair?"

Stein, unlike the other two, was doing research on his laptop. _Somebody_ had to remain professional around here.

_Let's see,_ he thought as he twisted the screw in his head. _All the attacks took place in famous cities, in areas with many old structures. Some of the buildings nearby had been ransacked. Could it be that the assailant is trying to find something? _He took a drag from his cigarette. _And now that I think about it, victims who could actually answer questions never said they were attacked by a witch. They said they were attacked by 'it'. Whatever 'it' is, it must've been pretty vicious. Maybe I've been too blindsided by the security tape. Just because that thing looks like Medusa..._

Stein snapped his laptop shut and rubbed his temple, thinking about the last couple days. When he saw that smirking face on the footage, he'd felt like his heart skipped a beat. It was enough to keep him from sleeping at night. Stein would never admit it, but Medusa finally dying gave him a sense of peace. That snake woman had twisted his thoughts, messed with his head. Almost made him hurt his students, and his partner. It was bad enough when Medusa survived the first time she was killed, but her living through the second time would be an insult.

"_Don't forget, we're dealing with a witch here. With them, anything's possible._"

Lord Death made a good point back then. And Medusa had been one shrew, evil witch.

"Lord Death! We have a situation here!"

Three heads snapped to attention. It was Marie, dashing into the room. Spirit, Lord Death, and Stein rose off the floor. (The first two tossing their cards to the ground.)

"Marie, calm down!" Lord Death said. "Where have you been? You left to deliver that message six hours ago."

Marie was panting. She had clearly ran all the way here. "I kept getting lost, but that's not important! I went to have any missions to Italy removed, but the only one there was had already been assigned! The pair who took it left a long time ago!"

"Oooh, that is so not good," Lord Death said. "Who took the mission?"

Marie glanced at Spirit. "Uh, Death Scythe? You might want to sit down for this."

This was possibly the worst way she could've said this.

* * *

"Damn, this was unexpected," Belinda muttered, watching the battle through a pair of binoculars. Belinda took great pride in her plans, and didn't appreciate it when they went awry. She and her crew were currently observing the fight from the top of a large clock tower.

The one in the blindfold crossed her arms. "I _did_ predict that the Boa would attack a powerful meister and weapon pair here."

Belinda turned to glare at her. "Well, Stheno, you never said it would be Albarn and her pet albino!"

Stheno shrugged. "Would now be a bad time to mention that I ran into them earlier this afternoon?"

A vein pulsed on the younger girl's forehead. "Why is it that even when you're speaking in monotone, you still sound completely sarcastic?"

"It's a gift."

"I hate you."

This was typical conversation between the two.

The boy in the group grabbed the binoculars. "Gimme those, I wanna see!" He peered through them. "That scythe is Soul Eater, right?" He gave a low whistle. "Nice. That guy can cut me _anytime._"

Belinda knocked him upside the head and took back her binoculars. "Shut up, Naga. I'm not in the mood."

Naga pouted and pretended to look hurt. "Don't be mean to me just because your plan isn't going well."

She ignored him. (Belinda had much practice doing this.) She sat down cross-legged. "Man, why can't my plans ever translate well from paper to real life?"

"Perhaps you can use this to your advantage," Stheno suggested. "Maka Albarn and Soul Eater are on your hit list, right?"

Belinda dug into into her nap-sac and pulled out a piece of paper. Skimming it, she replied, "Huh. So they are." She sighed and put the paper away. "I was hoping to confront them later, but I suppose now's as good a time as any."

"Ooh, ooh, let me kill them!" Naga shouted, waving his arm back and forth like an enthusiastic first grader. "I've been cooped up in that castle for weeks! If I don't kill something soon, I'm going to lose my mind!"

To emphasize his point, he used one finger to pull down his scarf some, showing his razor sharp teeth, and that he was drooling with anticipation.

"You can't lose what you never had," Belinda muttered. She stood up and called forth her broom. "You guys continue looking for the item of interest. I'm going to watch the end of the fight."

With that, she hopped onto the broom and flew off.

"Hey!" Naga yelled suddenly. "I do too have a mind! In fact, I have _half_ a mind. Half a mind to kick your ass!"

"A little slow on the uptake there, huh Naga?" Stheno said.

Naga grabbed Stheno and hugged her as hard as he could. "Oh, Stheno! Belinda doesn't understand my feelings! She's never nice to me, like you are!"

If this was bothering her, Stheno managed to keep a straight face. So she simply patted his head and said, "Of course. Now, let's get back to searching."

**(A/N: Just so this won't interrupt the after-episode sneak peak thing, here's who I would have play these three if this were a real anime. Belinda= Wendy Powell, Naga= Aaron Dismuke, Stheno= Tiffany Grant.)**

* * *

"_DIE_!" the Boa, as we know it is called, screamed. The snake heads it had for hands snapped at Maka.

"**Careful!**" Soul shouted, appearing on the scythe's blade, as Maka jumped out of the way. "**You don't want to get bitten and poisoned!**"

The Boa whipped out one of it's legs. Maka blocked it with the end of Soul's shaft.

"This thing's scales are as hard as steel," Maka said, guarding against the snake's flailing limbs with Soul's blade. Sparks flew as blade scraped scales. "And I don't think poison will be a problem. Whatever this thing is, it's part boa constrictor. Boas don't have venom. If anything, I have to worry about being strangled."

"**Don't give it any ideas!**"

Too late. The Boa grinned (the same grin it had on the security tape, Maka couldn't help but notice) and slammed down one of it's arms on the ground, the resulting ripple effect sending Maka flying into open air. Its other arm wrapped around Maka's waist, squeezing her. This caused Maka to drop Soul.

"Suh-Soul..." Maka gasped out. A mistake, since this took up the little oxygen she had left in her lungs. Her eyesight filled with black spots.

"_Die...Ma...Ka...Al...Barn..._," the Boa hissed with serpentine glee.

_**Shlick!**_

"_SCREEEEE_!"

Maka felt the Boa's grip loosen, and she fell. Instead of landing on the cobblestone road, she fell into someone's open arms.

"Maka, you alright?"

Maka's vision returned. Soul was propping her up with one arm, for the other one was still a blade. The Boa was screeching in pain, for Soul had stabbed it in the stomach, where it had no protective scales. Blood ran down it's scaly trunk-legs.

Maka gulped down precious air. "I feel... like... a gorilla... gave me... the Heimlich... Maneuver."

Soul gave a half-smile. "If you can still make jokes, I guess you're fine." He turned his head toward the snake creature and frowned. "So, do we have any idea what the heck that thing is? To me, it looks like somebody stuck Medusa and a snake into a blender and hit 'high speed'."

Maka stared at the Boa, which was still screeching. Though scaly and gross, it _did_ look a lot like like Medusa.

_There's only one way to be sure_, she thought. She gazed at the monster through her soul perception.

The Boa's soul was different, to say the least. It wasn't quite a human soul, and most definitely wasn't a witch's soul. It was greenish-yellow, and covered with a scale pattern. It gave off a scared, confused vibe.

"The creature's soul... it's an animal soul," Maka concluded. "But it's confused. It doesn't seem to know why it's the way it is. I almost feel sorry for it."

"What do you want to do about it?" Soul asked, helping Maka stand up.

"If this really is the thing that has been attacking the school's agents, we have to put an end to it."

Soul understood, and in a burst of bluish-white light, was once again a scythe.

The Boa got over its pain, sending visual daggers at the pair. It had never been hurt before, and didn't like the experience.

"_Soul...Eat...er..._" it hissed.

"Monster, in the name of the DWMA and it's agents, you will be destroyed," Maka declared, brandishing her weapon. "Ready, Soul?"

"**Yeah.**"

She spun the scythe, the blade ending up near her feet.

"_Let's go, Soul Resonance_!"

A charge ran through their souls, sparking and growing until it had nowhere to go but out. Soul's blade glowed, elongating until it attained a crescent shape.

The Boa roared. To it, this scene was familiar.

_Hooky thing too bright._

"The legendary super-skill of the Scythe-Meister! _Witch Hunter_!"

The Boa charged, but Maka had already swung her scythe. The blade cut diagonally across the monster's body. Blood splattered, and the Boa fell.

Maka fell to her knees. It was over.

Soul reverted to human form. "Yuck, what a mess."

Unlike others, the Boa's body didn't disintegrate. It remained there, it's blood collecting underneath it's body.

"It's somebody else's problem now," Maka said, a smile forming on her lips.

Soul stood over her. "What's got you so happy all of a sudden?"

She gave him a grin. "I'm relieved. The one attacking the meisters wasn't Medusa after all. We still have to figure out where that thing came from, but at least it means Medusa's still dead."

Soul smirked. "This mean you'll stop obsessing about it?"

She nodded. "I'll stop obsessing about it. One report to Lord Death and it'll be water under the bridge."

Soul helped her stand back up, for the second time that night. He turned, and his smile faded. "Hey. Did you check out where we were?"

Maka looked toward what Soul was referring to, and her heart jumped. They were in front of a large church, with a bell tower and everything.

"Santa Maria Novella Basilica," Maka remembered. "This is the church where we met Crona."

_And first fought Medusa_, both teens thought.

"Now that's just cruel, ending up back here," Soul commented. His chest ached a little when he saw the structure, but he kept it to himself.

"I'll say," Maka agreed. "Betcha the doors _still_ only open one way."

Then, as if by some divine intervention, the doors to the church slowly opened. A girl stepped out.

"What a nasty thing to do," she said in a fake baby voice that people typically reserved for puppies and small children. "Killing my precious little Boa."

The girl walked forward, not even caring when she stepped barefoot into the pool of blood.

Maka took a sharp intake of breath. "No... it can't be..."

Soul scowled.

The girl removed her hood. She had long silvery hair with long messy bangs, as if she didn't own a hairbrush. In front of her ears, she had braided two locks of hair that fell in front if her shoulders. Her eyes were a soft olive color, having a pleasant, mischievous gleam to them. She also had a nick in her left eyebrow.

Despite different coloring, there was no mistaking the girl's face.

"...Medusa?" Maka asked.

The girl just gave them a diabolical, toothy grin.

* * *

**Soul:** So, Maka, how types of snakes are there?

**Maka:** Let's see... there are garter snakes, pythons, cottonmouths, rattlesnakes, copperheads, banana snakes, water moccasin, king cobra, anaconda...

**Soul:** But do they have any weaknesses that we can use to fight this new witch girl?

**Maka:** Unless she goes into hibernation in cold weather, we may have a problem.

**Soul:** Next time on Soul Eater: "_The Church Where I First Fought Her- Our Enemy That Is The Union of the Snake?_"

**Maka:** Read it, or I'll take your soul!


	6. The Church Where I First Fought Her

_A sound soul,_

_dwells within a sound mind,_

_and a sound body._

* * *

Starting about a year ago, Maka and Soul began associating churches with battles. First there was that corrupt priest Rasputin, then the whole Crona debacle. Being in front the church where the latter took place wasn't exactly encouraging.

"Now that's just cruel, ending up back here," Soul commented. His chest ached a little when he saw the structure, but he kept it to himself.

"I'll say," Maka agreed. "Betcha the doors _still_ only open one way."

Then, as if by some divine intervention, the doors to the church slowly opened. A girl stepped out.

"What a nasty thing to do," she said in a fake baby voice that people typically reserved for puppies and small children. "Killing my precious little Boa."

The girl walked forward, not even caring when she stepped barefoot into the pool of blood.

Maka took a sharp intake of breath. "No... it can't be..."

Soul scowled. Despite different coloring to the hair and eyes, there was no mistaking the girl's face.

"...Medusa?" Maka asked.

The girl just gave them a diabolical, toothy grin.

* * *

(The opening bars of "Resonance" are the same. Maka, then Soul, then both split down the middle of the screen. The next music part (you know, the part with the ticking noise) focuses on the creepy sun, panning down through the city and up the school steps. Kid, Liz, and Patty are walking up the steps, while turning to look at the panning view. Next, the view moves up to Black*Star and Tsubaki, who are jumping onto one of the school's red cones. They too, turn along with the panning. Finally the view moves over top the school, ending on one of the balconies. Maka and Soul's backs are turned, but they turn to face us, smiling triumphantly.)

**Soul Eater: Union of the Snake**

_Tsunaida tamashii no higa  
Mune wo sasunara_

(This scene is pretty similar. Soul (in his second outfit) reaches out to Maka, while she does the same. Soul looks pretty enthusiastic, while Maka is more serious. They are in some sort of castle filled long, stone blocks coming out of the floor. Soul grips Maka's hand, his free arm becoming a scythe blade.)

_kotoba yori motto tsuyoi hibiki ga_  
_Ima kikoeru ka?_

(Soul becomes a complete scythe. Maka twirls him in the air with both hands, a determined look on her face. She brings him down, cutting diagonally across the screen.)

Musical interlude.

(Arrows cause the scene to change. First, an aerial, rotating night-time view of the academy. Then the Death Room. First the camera spins away from Spirit, focusing on Lord Death, who is chopping the air, then putting his hands together and pointing at the viewers/readers. Next, Stein spinning in his chair, jumping off, and grabbing the hand of Marie, who turns into a hammer. Finally, Excalibur, doing a stupid dance move.)

_Ruku ni me mo awasazu_

(Camera pans up the school hallway. Going past Soul, who scowls. Then moving past Maka, who puts her hands behind her back and smiles.)

_unmei ni made karandeku_

(Camera moves into Class Crescent Moon, where Tsubaki is standing in front of one of the desks. Black*Star vaults off of one, performing a flip, and spin kicking the air while his weapon watches diligently.)

_Yukisaki morro kabutteru_

(Kid, Liz, and Patty appear in front of a backdrop of Lord Death's mask. They are doing their usual pose. No need to mess with that.)

_kuenai yoru wo hashire_

(Maka is carrying box of sandwiches to the group's picnic blanket. Sitting on the ground, are Soul, Black*Star, Tsubaki, Kid, Liz, Patty, and Crona with Ragnarok sticking out of his back. Blair, in cat form, jumps into the middle of the group. With a puff of smoke, she switches to human form, giving Soul one of her trademark nosebleed-inducing hugs. Everyone just roll their eyes in distaste.)

_Fukaoi shisugita mabushisa ga_

(Dylan and the rest of the Class Crescent Moon OCs, along with Ox's resonance team, are standing in a circle, with a red sky overhead. The camera rotates exceptionally fast, showing all of their faces.)

_warui yume ni tsuzuitemo_

(Stheno, Naga, and Belinda stand in space filled with big glowing green cylinders. Stheno partially lifts her blindfold, revealing a glowing eye. Naga brandishes his blades, drooling in excitement. The screen closes up on Belinda's insane smile.)

Three sharp notes of music, then the xylophone-sounding piece.

(First shows Crona, then Ragnarok, then a spiral of black blood enveloping the two. When it clears, Crona is wearing a slightly different outfit, with two skinny Ragnarok arms coming out of his shoulders holding swords. The swords slash the air, sending a couple Scream Alphas across the floor.)

_Tsunaida tamashii no higa  
__Mune wo sasunara  
__  
_(The entire scene is tinged redish-purple. Maka jumps from the roof of a building, Soul Eater in hand. Belinda sends a giant black snake and several vector arrows toward her, but Maka cuts them down.)

_kotoba yori motto tsuyoi hibiki ga_

(Stheno lifts her hand. A wave of black blood is sent toward Black*Star and Tsubaki. Tsubaki morphs into enchanted sword mode, so Black*Star is able to cut a path straight through it.)

_Ima kikoeru ka?_

(Naga and Kid attack each other mid-air, swiping at each other. Kid fires a Death Cannon shot right at the idiot's smug face.)

_Deatta wake wa dou datte ii_

(Maka falls through a black void, her hair much shorter. Soul, shirtless and having a whitish-blue light on him, reaches to grab her hand.)

_Hiki tsukerarete_

(A giant black shadow with reptilian eyes shoots from the ground, ginning wickedly at Death City, which is directly below it.)

_fureta shunkan no kizu no bun dake_

(Maka is standing on top of the school. Soul takes her hand, she pulls him close then swinging him back out. Soul now is scythe form, as Genie Hunter.)

_tashika ni nareru_

(Maka swings Soul, ripping the shadow apart.)

Final chords.

(Shows Tsubaki, then Liz and and Patty, then Soul, and then the meisters standing back to back. Finally, the opening ends on an image of a large tank with pipes coming out of it. It is filled with green liquid, and has a silhouette visible within its confines.)

* * *

"MAKA, SOUL, YOUR GOD HAS ARRIVED!" Black*Star shouted, banging on the apartment door.

Tsubaki rolled her eyes, then smiled softly and placed a hand on her meister's shoulder. "Black*Star, you've been at this for ten minutes. Maybe they're not home."

"I'm gonna give it another five minutes," he decided. "If they don't open their door before then, we'll leave." He proceeded to perform another round of door-banging.

"You won't find them there."

The duo looked down to see a purple cat in a witch's hat.

"Oh, hi Blair," Tsubaki greeted.

"Do you know where Maka and Soul are?" Black*Star asked, picking the cat up.

Blair batted her ear with a paw. "They said they were going on a mission to Italy. Those lucky-loos. Italy's supposed to be really nice this time of year."

Tsubaki gave a small gasp. "Italy? The school cancelled all missions going there! They said the area's too dangerous right now. Maka and Soul could be in trouble!"

"Chill out, Tsubaki," Black*Star said, surprisingly stroking Blair's back, causing the cat to purr. "This is_ Maka_ and _Soul_ we're talking about. They held their own against the living embodiment of madness. Whatever's in Italy, they can handle it."

Tsubaki relaxed at Black*Star's sincerity (and was mildly impressed that he knew the word _embodiment_), but couldn't swallow her feelings of concern.

_Soul, Maka,_ she thought, hugging her shoulders._ Please be careful_.

* * *

**Episode 3: The Church Where I First Fought Her- Our Enemy That is The Union of the Snake?**

* * *

At the moment, this chance encounter had become something of a staring contest. Both sides were waiting for the other to make the first move.

The mystery girl broke the silence. "Medusa? As lovely as that would be, she's still six feet under. You may recognize the family resemblance, but I'm a completely different person. My name is Belinda."

Maka grit her teeth. "Do you think I'm stupid, Medusa? It's obvious you've possessed some poor girl again! Have you no shame?"

The girl looked exasperated. She placed her hands on her hips. "Wha-? Did you not hear what I just said? I'm_ not_ Medusa! You should start paying attention to the things other people say."

If there was one thing Maka didn't need, was to be told_ that_ again in Italy.

"If you're not Medusa, prove it," Soul snarled.

Belinda (_if_ that was her real name) sighed, as if it were an inconvenience. "Fine, if it'll make you feel better." She snapped her fingers. "Soul protect, _release_."

A ripple ran through the air. Maka's eyes widened as she looked at the girl's soul. It was bigger than she was, surrounding her like a dome. The soul was a vibrant shade of fuchsia, with arrows criss-crossing all over it in a stitch-like pattern.

The soul had an underlying tone of 'sarcastic jerk' to it, but it didn't really feel evil. So it definitely wasn't Medusa's soul. Besides the obvious difference in souls, Maka took notice of the physical differences. There was the hair and eye color, of course. Belinda and Medusa had the same complexion, but Belinda's face wasn't quite as round as Medusa's, and her eyes weren't as narrow. There was something else familiar about her as well, but Maka couldn't put her finger on it.

"She's telling the truth," Maka concluded. "She's not Medusa."

"Well, give the girl a prize!" Belinda shouted. "And here I thought you were a straight-A student."

Maka chose to ignore that comment.

"But she is a witch, right?" Soul whispered, not wanting Belinda to hear.

Maka nodded. "I think so. Her soul is kind of weird, though. It feels like a witch's soul, but at the same time it's not."

"A witch is a witch. Should we attack?"

"I don't know. We just met, and she hasn't done anything to us yet."

"She said that monster was _hers_. She might've been the one ordering the attacks on the meisters."

"Hmm. Good point."

"Hey, I'm still here, you know!" Belinda called over to them.

"Belinda, right?" Soul responded. "Were you the one who was ordering that monster to attack meisters?"

Belinda shrugged. "Yeah. What about it?"

Just like that. No denying it, no clever wordplay or comeback. It was as if Soul had asked her if it would rain that day or something else trivial.

"Then again," she went on, looking down at the Boa's remains. "'Ordering' is an odd way to put it. It's more like I pointed it in a direction, then let it loose. It's not entirely my fault it attacked agents from the academy. You meister's see it and go all gung-ho, shooting first then asking questions later. It couldn't help but get scared and retaliate."

"That thing sent over 26 people to the hospital," Maka scowled.

"All in self-defense!" Belinda declared, pointing a finger as if she were a lawyer. She lowered her hands, putting both in her pockets and smirking snidely. (It wasn't enough that it was a smirk. Of course it also had to be snide.) "But you have to admit, those people really didn't deserve to call themselves meisters if they let their backsides get kicked by a crazed animal."

Maka knit her eyebrows. She usually knew how to keep a level head, but this girl made her blood boil. "How can you say that?"

Soul decided this was a good time to return to weapon form.

"I mean, those people ranked what? Two stars? Three stars?" Belinda asked. "They were the best the DWMA offered, and they failed miserably. That's probably why I pulled the Boa back before it could kill them. They were just _that_ pathetic-"

"SHUT UP!" Maka hollered, coming at her, scythe ready. "Die, witch!"

She brought the scythe down, but only dug into the stone ground.

_Where did she- _Maka thought, before being interrupted.

"Ooh. Fun."

Belinda had jumped out of the way, and was now balancing on Soul's shaft, using only one foot. With one clean movement, she performed a back-flip, using Maka's head as a launching pad.

"Ow!" Maka yelped despite herself. There was also an ick-factor, considering the bottoms of Belinda's feet were covering in Boa blood.

Belinda landed on her feet, taking her hands out of her pockets. "Alright, Albarn. My turn." She raised her arms, twisting them around. "_Nake snake mamba mambaa, nake snake mamba mambaa_."

Maka knew what was going to happen. This girl probably had magic similar to Medusa's. But what would it be? Vector arrow? Vector plate?"

All of a sudden, the witch stopped chanting, ran forward, vaulted over Maka's head, and landed behind her.

"Psych!"

Belinda slammed the palm of her hand into Maka's back. She immediately felt a shock go throughout her body, sending her flying into the church doors. To add a cherry on top, Soul became increasingly hot in her hands, so she had to drop him.

Maka used the door handles to steady her shaking body. "What the..."

"**She... she made our wavelengths de-sync**." Soul said, saying it as if the idea was unthinkable to him. "**How did she do that?**"

Belinda took a defensive pose, sticking out her palm. Pinkish-purple energy danced around her fingers.

"You thought I was going to use magic, didn't you?" Belinda taunted. "Get real. I never use it for the first attack."

She strolled over, grabbing and lifting Maka by the shirt. (Which was a little weird to look at, since Belinda was pretty short.)

"You're playing my game now, meister," the witch snickered, an insane smile playing across her face. "First rule: I always win."

* * *

To think Soul was having a pretty okay day before this. They got a mission, came back to Italy, ate all-you-can-eat pasta, even got another kishin egg in the bag. Then the snake thing appeared, with the witch girl in tow. Not cool.

One of the things he hated about being a weapon, was that he really didn't do much. A weapon relied on the meister to do all the heavy lifting, literally. Just like now. This chick Belinda was trying to kill Maka, and all he could do was stay quiet and hope his meister got a good swing in. But now Maka couldn't even do that much, because she dropped her weapon and was at the mercy of a psychotic thirteen-year-old. Again, not cool.

At the moment, Belinda was raising her free arm, arrows spinning around it like a drill.

"Now, this won't hurt a bit," she said wickedly. "It'll hurt a lot."

The eye on Soul's shaft looked up at Maka, and she gave him a quick wink.

_Oh, someone's going to hurt_, Soul thought. _But it's not going to be Maka_!

Soul was right to assume that. Before Belinda could stab Maka, the meister grabbed the witch by arm, and twisted it in the wrong direction. Belinda grunted, and loosened her grip. Seeing her chance, Maka grabbed Belinda by the shoulders, and flipped over her. This flip brought Belinda along for the ride, so while Maka landed in a crouching position, Belinda landed on her face.

"I bet that _did_ hurt a lot!" Maka chirruped.

If Belinda had a response, it was muffled by gravel.

Maka stood back up, and ran over to Soul. She placed her hand quickly on his shaft, to see if it was hot. It wasn't, so she picked him up.

"**Nicely done**," Soul commented.

"Thanks. Black*Star taught me that." Maka set Soul across her shoulders. "I'm getting tired, so how about we take Belinda down and head on home?"

"**Best idea you've had all night.**"

Belinda got up off the ground. "You play dirty. I can respect that." Blood ran down her forehead. "But I_ don't_ respect having my face crushed. You and Joe Cool over there should prepare for a world of pain."

Maka raised an eyebrow. "Joe Cool?"

"**I think she was referring to me.**"

Belinda wiped off the blood and growled. "_Nake snake mamba mambaa, nake snake mambaa. Vector Arrow!_"

Now this was an attack the pair was familiar with. Arrows emerged from Belinda's magic, zig-zagging toward them with tremendous speed. Maka lifted Soul, deflecting the arrows off of his blade. Then, with one clean twirl, sliced them apart.

"That's an old trick-" Maka began.

What wasn't an old trick was Belinda riding on one of the arrows, in order to get close to her foes. The witch, now nose to nose with Maka, kneed the meister in the stomach.

"Old trick," she snickered, "but a whole new way of using it."

Maka rammed the top on Soul's staff between Belinda's eyes, sending her reeling. Maka took advantage of her unbalanced state and kicked her legs out from underneath her. Instead of falling, Belinda stood on her hands, then performing a double back handspring, kicking Maka in the chin in the process.

"**Maka, you okay?**"

Maka spit out blood. "I think I phit mah hongue." She swallowed and tried again. "I mean, I think I bit my tongue." She glared at Belinda. "But that doesn't matter right now. I can't afford to be distracted."

Maka looked around, and noticed one of the deflected arrows had rammed one of the nearby buildings. Debris began to fall, just as a couple was exiting the front doors.

"No!" Maka shouted. "They'll be crushed!"

She surged forward to help, but someone beat her to it.

"_Vector Plate!_"

A black arrow appeared under the couple's feet, tossing them out of harm's way. Maka turned around, and saw Belinda pointing at where the people had been.

"That was close," she muttered.

"**Did you just-**" Soul began.

The witch pointed at them. "_Vector Plate!_"

The new plate threw them toward Belinda, where she promptly slammed her palm into Maka's stomach. This brought another shock ricocheting throughout Maka's body. It left their wavelengths alone this time, but it still hurt like heck.

"Shut up," Belinda growled. "I only saved them because I need you focus on our fight. I can't have you dawdling off to play hero."

Maka shakily stood up, and collected herself. "Does it count as playing hero if I kill you? A lot of people would benefit from that."

Belinda sat cross-legged on top of a magic arrow. "Still need that witch's soul, right? Good luck with that. But seriously, you think you can win this? What're gonna do, give an inspiring speech about bravery and punch me in the face?"

Maka hadn't expected that. She'd made her friends swear to secrecy about the method of Asura's defeat. (It _was_ a little anti-climatic, now that she thought about it.)

Belinda sneered. "Sorry honey, but you can't _deus ex machina_ your way out of this."

With that, she pointed at the pair, and hissed, "_Vector Arrow Times 3_!"

Maka began running forward. _This just like what happened under the school during the anniversary party! The only way through is straight down the middle_!

She got about halfway, before Belinda added, "..._Divert!_"

Several moved toward the middle, moving between Maka's arms, legs, and waist, cutting her up a bit. She also couldn't move.

"**Maka!**" Soul called out.

Belinda grinned. "...And _Capture!_"

The vector arrows wrapped around Maka. From the neck down, she was completely tied up. Soul was caught in the capture, now bound to to his meister's side. Literally.

Belinda hopped off her arrow and strolled over to the duo. She gestured the arrows holding them to move them closer to her.

"Told you so," Belinda said in a sing-song voice. "First rule, I always win."

A large black arrow-shaped sword appeared in her hand. "If it's okay, I think I'll kill you now. Won't _that_ be fun?"

* * *

Stheno was a pretty patient person. But after searching a total of 38 cities and hitting nothing but dead-ends, she was reaching her limit.

"Still nothing-ribbit?" Eruka asked tensely. (While she knew not to make Belinda angry, she knew for Stheno, that meant double.)

Stheno gave her the usual calm expression. (Unlike Belinda, she could control her emotions.) "So far, I can't detect anything. Where'd Naga run off to?"

Eruka shrugged. "He said he was bored, and went home."

"Belinda's not going to like that."

"I doubt Naga cares."

"True."

Stheno turned, and Eruka stuck her tongue at her.

_Emotionless freak_, Eruka thought.

"Eruka?"

She snapped to attention. "Yes, Lady Stheno?"

Stheno gave her a rare smirk and tapped her blindfold. "I saw that."

Eruka was exasperated. "How!"

Stheno looked away again, thinking to herself, _That never gets old. Anyway, at least with Naga gone, I can focus on the mission. I wonder how Belinda's doing_?_ I can sense her soul, and it's getting cocky. Here's to her not doing something foolish._

* * *

This was bad. Neither Maka or Soul could see a way out of this. They were tied up, couldn't move, and Belinda was prepared to cut them in half. This meant they had to go for any meister/weapon team's fail-safe. Stalling.

"Wait, wait, hold on a second!" Maka shrilled.

Belinda, believe or not, stopped. "What? Don't tell me you're actually going to _beg_ for your life."

Maka shook her head. "Of course not! It's just... we can't die without knowing your story!"

The witch raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Soul nodded in agreement (or whatever passes for nodding, when your a scythe). "**Yeah, what she said. You mentioned earlier there was a family resemblance between you and Medusa. What did you mean by that?**"

"And why do you want to kill us so badly?" Maka went on. "What did we ever do to you?"

"If this is your attempt at stalling, it's not a particularly good one," Belinda assumed, speaking in a bored, monotonous tone.

Maka was taken aback by that statement. First because she saw through their plan that quickly. Second, the way she said it.

_For a second there, she sounded like..._ Maka purged that thought. _No, I must be imagining things_.

"If that's all, I'll get on with that whole killing thing..." Belinda said, twirling her blade.

"Wait!" Maka snapped back to attention. "Can you at least tell us why you want to kill us? I mean, it's not like we're going anywhere any time soon!"

Belinda stopped to consider this. This was probably another attempt at stalling, but like she said, they weren't going anywhere. Then again, this was the girl who defeated the kishin. She would be clever enough to keep Belinda talking while she or the weapon formulated a plan for escape.

After a few minutes, the urge to gloat won out over common sense.

"Alright, fine," Belinda decided. She sat cross-legged, balancing on top of one of her arrows. "I want to kill you because you two are on my list."

"List?"

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. She held it up close so the pair could read it.

_1. Maka Albarn_  
_2. Soul Eater_  
_3. Franken Stein_  
_4. Marie Mjölnir_  
_5. Crona? (Ehh... Jury's still out. Maybe I should just make him cry.)_

Maka stared at the list. "And this is your what? Hit list?"

Belinda put the paper away and nodded. "Yup. You asked me why I wanted to kill you. My reasons are personal. Every person on this list played a role in Medusa's final demise."

"**So this your revenge?**" Soul asked, sounding irritated. "**Who in their right mind would even want to avenge that psycho?**"

Belinda rested her chin on her palm, considering this. "Hmm, good question. But I guess I'm not in my right mind, then. In truth, it's kind of a long story, and I need to get around to killing you."

"We've got time!" Maka insisted. "We're really interested!"

She was skeptical. "You're trying to stall again."

"**C'mon!**" Soul added in feign eagerness. "**What do you have to lose?**"

Belinda thought about it, and once again, the urge to gloat came out on top. "Okay, if you _really_ want to know."

Maka and Soul released sighs of relief. They'd managed to buy some time, and now all they had to do was listen to her while thinking up a plan.

"My connection to Medusa begins a bit before I was created," the witch began. "As we all know, Medusa was quite the mad scientist, in her own way. That became apparent with the black blood thing. But that was only the beginning of her interests. Not along after she came up with that, she got another idea in her head. If someone's DNA could be so malleable, there's a chance you can replicate it. Maybe even grow a whole new person."

"That's sounds like cloning," Maka said. "Wait... Medusa began cloning experiments?"

Belinda nodded. "Yeah, it sounds a little crazy, but then again, so was Medusa. She harvested samples of her own DNA, and began the process-"

"**Hold it, can I interrupt?**" Soul, well, interrupted. "**If Medusa had the means to clone her own body, then why did possess Rachel Boyd?**"

"I was getting to that!" Belinda hissed. "If you must know this very second, Medusa _was _planning to clone herself a new body, and was using Rachel's as a temporary vessel until it was completed. I believe she did mention she was only controlling Rachel until her new body was ready. But you miserable lot killed her before she could get around to doing that. Satisfied?"

"**Not really.**"

"Too bad. As I was saying, she began the process, but it didn't work out so well. The first clones were flawed, depressing things. Some had genetic defects, but all were completely lifeless. The body is easy to duplicate, but soul..." She shrugged.

"You only have have one soul," Maka realized, smirking a little. "And that can't be copied."

"Exactly," Belinda nodded, a little impressed. "So Medusa, the little trooper, tried again. This time, she filled in the genetic gaps with DNA from various breeds of snakes (this is called 'splicing' by the way), and implanted the souls of other snakes to give them life. The Boa you fought earlier was from this second round of clones. But that also was a failure. Those snake hybrids weren't really good for anything. Though they had Medusa's memories, they were really just dumb animals."

_That's a lie_, Maka thought. _Boa wasn't a dumb animal. She recognized me, and Soul as well. She was angry and scared. She didn't understand why she was the way she was. And I... I killed her_. At that moment, Maka began to feel really guilty.

"It was around this time Medusa began to contemplate that she would die soon," Belinda went on. "Actually, it occurred to her a few weeks before the Anniversary party incident. She realized that in the case she died and the whole 'wake-the-kishin' plan failed, she'd need someone to continue her good work."

"**Has the the definition of 'good work' changed in the last ten minutes?**" Soul snarked. As he said this, he finally came up with an idea. It was risky, but he all he had to do was wait for Belinda to turn her back...

"Shut up," Belinda growled. "Anyway, she couldn't rely on those morons Eruka and Free, so she came up with a better idea. Create a third round of clones, with modifications so they wouldn't fail. There were a total of three perfect clones, which she kept in stasis at an undisclosed location until they were needed. In fact, they didn't awake until her final death." She crossed her arms and grumbled, "Only_ someone_ locked the door from the outside, so they couldn't even get _out_ for six weeks. Do you have any idea how _boring_ a clone lab can_ get_?"

It was her bitter tone that made Maka realize who, or _what_, Belinda was.

"No way. You don't mean..."

Belinda perked up, and grinned. "Ah, you figured it out!" She jumped off her arrow, standing proudly. "I may look thirteen, but in reality, I'm a little less than a year old. I am one of Medusa's perfect clones, with a perfectly forged witch's soul."

She turned around, gesturing dramatically. "Along with my siblings, we are Medusa's chosen! We are the Union of the Snake!"

_**Schlice!**_

Soul was back in human form, save for his arm, which was still a scythe blade. While Belinda had been gloating, he'd transform and sliced through the arrows. Of course this meant damage for him, because as he did it, the razor-sharp arrows cut into his skin. He took the worst of the arrows for Maka. He cut at Belinda, who narrowly dodged the attack.

"You- you got me monologuing!" she shouted is disbelief. "That was clever, but you still missed me in the end!"

Soul grinned wanly, lifting up his blade. Blood dripped off the blade's edge. "You sure about that?"

Belinda's eyes widened, and looked down at her side. There was a large, nasty cut. And it was bleeding. A lot.

She staggered, clutching her wound. Belinda knelt on one knee, and grit her teeth as her fingers were stained red. "That... wasn't... fair."

"Hey, I'm cut up, and now you're cut up," Soul said, his arm morphing back to normal. "Seems fair to me."

"Soul..."

Soul turned to look at Maka. She was sitting on the ground, staring at his wounds. The cuts weren't too bad, but they were still bleeding freely.

Soul gave her a half-smile. "This is the second I've gotten sliced up in Italy, huh?"

Maka returned the smile. "We're pretty hopeless."

He offered his hand. She took it, and he helped her stand up.

"Whaddya say? Ready to end this?" Soul asked, though he already knew her answer.

Maka nodded. "Been ready."

Soul transformed back into a scythe. Maka caught him.

"Hey Belinda!"

Belinda looked up, trying not to look weak.

Maka brandished Soul in front of her. "Clone or not, you're still a witch. And as of right now, your soul is mine!"

She spun her scythe. Soul was right. It was time to end this.

"_Let's Go, Soul Resonance!_"

The transfer of power was enormous. Maka and Soul glowed so brightly, Belinda had to avert her eyes.

_The meister sends her soul wavelength to weapon, which in turn gives them back, only amplified_, Belinda thought. _That is soul resonance. And for some reason, it pisses me off completely_!

Soul's blade grew, taking on a crescent shape. (No need to waste a Genie Hunter on this pest.)

"The legendary super-skill of the Scythe-Meister! _WITCH HUNTER_!"

Maka darted forward, bringing Witch Hunter in a downward arc. But, in a shocking display of speed, Belinda lept to her feet and caught the blade, right between her hands!

_She... she caught it? _Maka thought.

Energy arced between the enemies. Maka, trying to cut the witch down. And Belinda, refusing to let the Witch Hunter budge.

"Sorry... Albarn..." Belinda grunted, her hair flying around her face. "But... you'll... have... to... do... better... than... THAT!"

On that final word, Witch Hunter shattered, when Belinda released another shock from her palms.

Maka was thrown back as Witch Hunter was destroyed and Belinda's attack went through her body, ricocheting **(A/N: Love that word!)** through her very soul.

_Witch Hunter broke_, she thought. _And this attack she keeps using... I recognize it now. It's like Black*Star and Prof. Stein..._

Luckily, Belinda did not escape punishment. She was thrown back as well, only instead of tumbling across the ground like Maka, she was sent crashing into a brick wall. The wall didn't break, but Belinda's back was sent arching forwarding, blood flying from her mouth.

"**Maka!**" Soul called out. "**Maka, are you okay? Say something!**"

Maka sat up, laying Soul across her lap. "I'm alright... but I don't think I can do that again."

In his soul space, Soul's shoulders sagged with relief. "**I'm with you on that one. Hopefully Belinda will stay down this time.**"

Yeah, but these things rarely go according to expectations. Belinda, despite being gravely injured, stood up. Though she was staggering in agony.

"You think... you've won?" Belinda panted. "You're not even close!"

Something was different about her. The way she moved, the way she spoke. Maka could feel something radiating off her wavelength. Something that wasn't there before.

_Madness,_ Maka thought._ This girl is completely insane._

Belinda took an uneasy defensive pose. "I'm just... getting... warmed up! In fact, I think dismembering you will be _way_ more fun than just killing you!"

Vector arrows writhed around her body. "_Nake snake mamba mambaa, nake snake mamba mambaa! Vector D-_"

Suddenly, someone wrapped their arms around Belinda's shoulders from behind. "Belinda."

Belinda stopped chanting, and turned her head. It was Stheno.

"Getting your revenge isn't worth losing yourself," she whispered soothingly. "Calm down."

Maka stood up. Who was this newcomer? And why didn't she sense her coming?

"**Hey... isn't that the girl we almost ran over?**" Soul asked.

Maka gave a short gasp. "Oh my gosh, she _is_."

As soon as Stheno finished speaking, the mad gleam in Belinda's eyes faded. Belinda scowled and pushed her off. "Whatever. Did you find it?"

Stheno shook her head. "It's not here. Another dead-end. I've already sent Eruka back to the castle, and Naga left awhile ago. We should go too."

"What!" Belinda complained. "But I'm winning!"

Stheno poked her lightly, and Belinda cringed as if she'd just been smacked.

"You're in no condition to continue. Look, you can barely stand," Stheno said in a lecturing tone. "It's better we retreat and finish this later. Okay?"

Belinda lowered her head. "Fine."

The snake tattoo on her arm coiled off, becoming a giant black serpent. Stheno picked Belinda up bridal style, and stepped on to the snake's head.

"Hold on a second!" Maka shouted. She snapped Soul back up and ran toward them. When she was close, she brought the blade down.

Stheno, without a moment of hesitation, caught the edge of the blade, with the palm of her bare hand. If the blade cutting into her skin hurt, she didn't say so.

"What the-" Maka began.

Stheno got close to Maka's face, giving her a cold look. (How did she accomplish this with a blindfold? The world may never know.) "You survived this time, girl. Do yourself and your weapon a favor. Don't push your luck."

With that, she twisted her wrist, which ended up flipping Maka and Soul aside. Belinda stuck out her tongue at the fallen pair.

"Catch you later, losers!" Belinda taunted as the snake slithered into the air.

Maka glared at the two girls, quickly activating her soul perception. Belinda's soul felt smug and bummed at the same time, while the other girl's-

No. That wasn't possible.

Stheno gave one last blind-folded glance at the pair, then she, Belinda, and the snake simply vanished without a trace.

Soul reverted to human form. "And stay gone." He looked down at Maka. "Hey, at least we won."

Maka hugged her arms. "If we won, why does it feel like we lost?"

Soul didn't know what else to do but put his arms behind his head. "Let's call it a draw. Come on. We should contact Lord Death."

Soul knelt down, and picked Maka up. She was in no condition to be moving on her own.

_That girl must've been using a form of Soul Protect or something,_ Maka thought, resting her head on Soul's shoulder._ It would explain why I didn't sense her before._..

Maka looked up the moon's deranged grin.

_Then again, can a person... really _not_ have a soul_?

* * *

After getting some bandages for their wounds, Soul and Maka found a window covered in frost. Perfect for contacting Lord Death.

"42, 42, 564, whenever you want to knock on Death's door," Maka recited, writing the numbers into the foggy glass.

Rings rippled across the window's surface.

"Lord Death, you there?" Soul said.

The window flashed a bright light... and they were met with the face of Maka's frantic father.

"_MAKA, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?_" Spirit bellowed, pressing his face against the mirror. "_I've been worried sick! Please tell me you're alright!_"

"Papa, I'm fine," Maka said, rolling her eyes. "Where's Lord Death?"

A giant, blocky hand shoved the Death Scythe out of the way.

"_Howdy, meister Maka!_" Lord Death greeted. "_Good to see you're still in one piece! How'd it go? Did you run into the Medusa lookalike?_"

"As a matter of fact, we did," Maka replied. Then she and Soul took turns giving a rundown of the night's events.

When they'd finished, Lord Death said, "_Experiments? Hybrids? Clones? Jeez, witches have a knack for giving me a headache. I think it would be best if you returned to the academy and explained this in further detail_."

Maka and Soul nodded.

"Of course, Lord Death. We'll return as soon as possible," Maka agreed.

"_Okay then, see you soon!_" Lord Death then hung up.

Maka grabbed Soul's hand and began pulling him along. "Let's go find the bike, Soul. I'm ready to go home."

After a little searching, they managed to locate the motorcycle. Soul hopped on, and Maka held on to his waist as they took off.

Once they'd gone a couple miles, Soul piped up, "You know, I wasn't going to bring this up, but remember that chick in purple?"

Maka gave him a 'of course I remember, doofus' look. "What about her?"

"Back there, she kinda reminded me of someone, but I couldn't think of who. But I just realized who she looked like."

"Really? Who?"

"You, Maka. She kinda looked like she could be your hot older sister."

_**MAKA CHOP!**_

"OW!" Soul cried out. trying to keep the bike from swerving. "Was that really necessary?"

"Just drive, Soul."

* * *

Naga was lying on the crystal-ball room floor, thumbing through a magazine, when Belinda came storming in. Her wounds were covered in medical gauze.

"So? How'd it go?" Naga asked casually.

If looks could kill, the one Belinda gave Naga would've slaughtered him in an instant.

"Not so well?" Naga loved asking obvious questions.

"I'll be in the lab," she growled, moving a silk curtain to reveal an elevator. She stomped in, hit a button, and the elevator doors shut.

Stheno soon entered the room as well. "She's a little ticked off."

Naga got up and stretched. "Oh, really? Couldn't tell. So, did you get to see Soul Eater?"

"Yes, I did."

Naga gave Stheno the expression of an expecting puppy. "How was he?"

_Rough_, she thought. _A little wild, but dedicated to his meister_. _A good soul for Soul_. _You'd be jealous.__  
_

To Naga, she said, "Perfect."

Meanwhile, several hundred feet underground, Belinda exited the elevator, boiling mad. She'd planned this evening perfectly! But did it go her way? _Noooo_. Maka and the Albino just _had_ to interfere.

Belinda slowed to a simple walk as she passed the green glowing tanks. They held her sisters, the failed clones. She almost felt something for them. Love? Nah. She was incapable of that. Maybe the better word was _pity_.

She stopped in front of the largest tank in the room. The green liquid within was so cloudy, you couldn't see what it held in its confines. In front of the tank was a small cage.

Belinda knelt. "We failed again tonight. The Tome wasn't in Florence, or any of the other cities we searched. I'm sorry."

_That's not good enough_.

Belinda was now on both knees, hugging herself. There it was. The Voice. The Voice she, Naga, and Stheno had heard since their days in the tank. It hissed in their brains, refusing to leave them alone.

_You also failed to kill Maka Albarn and Soul Eater_.

Belinda gulped. "Y-yes, I did. Fail, that is."

_You're lucky. I'm not concerned about them just yet. Their time will come. But you must find that Tome_.

"But why do we even need it? It's not like it's important to the process-"

_Are you questioning me?_

"No-"

_Then stop acting like you can_.

"Of course. I'm sorry."

The Voice grew softer, less cold.

_I trust you can do this. I love you, and Naga, and Stheno. Don't fail me, and betray that trust._

Belinda nodded. "Yeah, don't worry. I won't."

She stood up, and looked at the cage. Glowing red eyes glared up at her. As Belinda turned to leave, she muttered, "No more games. Time to kick things up a notch."

Belinda closed the elevator door, leaving behind the Voice, and the dark lab.

* * *

"Lord Death, what do you think of Maka and Soul's report?" Stein said, releasing a puff of smoke from his mouth.

Lord Death was still facing his mirror. "I'm not quite sure what to think. But it seems that even though she's dead, Medusa's not finished with us yet."

Spirit crossed his arms. "That's clear. Clones, hybrids. And just when things were getting peaceful, too."

Lord Death did an exaggerated nod. "Yeah, things are getting pretty crazy." He sighed, and clapped his hands. "Well, no use getting depressed about it! We'll just have to see when Maka gives her full report. That'll be exciting!"

Spirit and Stein sighed. Why couldn't he take this more seriously?

* * *

**Black*Star:** HA-HA-HA! Now its time for a _real_ star to take the stage!

**Maka:** Whatever you say, Black*Star.

**Black*Star:** The next episode's gonna be great, because it's all about me and only me!

**Maka:** Um... actually it has Angela too. And Mifune. Not to mention Tsubaki.

**Black*Star:** They're nothing compared to a big guy like me! YA-HOO!

**Maka:** Next time on Soul Eater: _"Big Brother Black*Star! Babysitting the Restless Angela?"_ Read it, or I'll take your soul!

**Black*Star:** I am the star!


	7. Big Brother Black Star Part 1

_A sound soul,_

_dwells within a sound mind,_

_and a sound body._

* * *

"Mifune!" a tiny voice chirruped. Angela ran through her apartment. "Mifune, wake up! You'll be late!"

It'd been nearly 3 months since Mifune and Angela had moved to Death City. With Black Star and Tsubaki's help, Mifune had gotten a job as a teacher at the academy. It took a little convincing (okay, a LOT of convincing), but they managed to get Lord Death to agree that Angela wouldn't be a problem. Lord Death insisted, though, that Angela spend time with Kim Diehl as often as possible. For whatever reason, nobody knew.

Angela began jumping up and down on her guardian's bed. "Come on, the students are waiting!"

When he didn't get up, Angela irritably removed the blankets, only to find a bunch of pillows.

"...Mifune?"

Then, all of a sudden, someone grabbed Angela from behind, tickling her a little.

"EEEK!" she squealed.

"Didn't I tell you to be quiet in the morning?" Mifune chuckled slightly, placing Angela on his shoulder.

"Mifune, you scared me!" Angela pouted, pulling her hat over her face. "That wasn't nice."

"I'm sorry," Mifune apologized. "Ready to go?"

"Mm-hmm," she replied.

The samurai and the witch gathered their things and left the apartment. Though they didn't realize it, someone had been watching from outside, through a pair of binoculars.

"Boss," he said into a walkie-talkie. "The tip was right. Angela Leon and that samurai _are_ in Death City."

"_Good_," a voice on the other end replied. "_Prepare to move out._"

* * *

**Episode 4: Big Brother Black*Star! Babysitting the Restless Angela? Part 1**

* * *

"What's the verdict?" Spirit asked as Stein came out of his lab.

"I've been examining that thing for an hour," Stein replied, making his way toward a sink to wash his hands. "And I'm completely stumped."

Back in his lab, the remains of the Boa were laid on an examination table. Maka and Soul brought it back from their mission, so Stein could take a look at it. After seven hours of dissection, he didn't have squat.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Soul said it was like somebody put Medusa and a snake into a blender. I'm force to agree. I have no idea how Medusa figured out to do this, or how she even managed to accomplish it."

Spirit rubbed the back of his neck. "Figures. Well, I guess I should head up to the Death Room. Maka will be giving her full report soon."

Stein nodded, and the death scythe left his lab.

Stein walked slowly back into his examination room. He gazed upon the pathetic creature Medusa had brought into the world.

"Despite the intentions, it's really a work of art," Stein said to himself, adjusting his glasses. "It's almost a shame Maka had to kill it." He picked up a clean scalpel. "Almost."

He'd always said he'd dissect Medusa. For now, the Boa would have to do.

* * *

Meanwhile, Maka and Soul were making their way down the hall of guillotines, leading to the Death Room. The events of the previous night ran through their heads.

"_What're gonna do, give an inspiring speech about bravery and punch me in the face? Sorry honey, but you can't _deus ex machina_ your way out of this._"

_"You survived this time, girl. Do yourself and your weapon a favor. Don't push your luck."_

Maka shook her head furiously, trying to get Belinda's smug grin out of her head. _Arghh, why am I letting what they said get to me? So maybe Asura's defeat wasn't as spectacular as I led everyone to believe. And I didn't just survive. One way or another, we won that fight. Next time, I won't let her get away._

Soul glanced at his meister, and noticed her determined expression. _Man, she must be thinking about that witch-girl again. I'd wish she'd stop worrying about it. We'll get her next time, for sure_. His brow furrowed. _But still, there was also the girl in purple. She troubles me. Even though she was wearing a blindfold, for some reason I thought she looked like Maka. And why couldn't my blade cut her? She took it without even flinching. Seriously weird._

As they neared the end of the hall, they had to step aside to let Sid through.

"Maka, Soul," he greeted briefly.

"Hi, Sid," they greeted back.

Once he was out of sight, Soul said, "I wonder what Sid was doing in here."

Maka shrugged. "He_ is_ a teacher. Maybe Lord Death just wanted to talk to him."

They stood in front of Lord Death's mirror.

"I'll call him," Maka said. She fogged up the glass. "42, 42, 564, whenever you wanna knock on Death's door."

Lord Death picked up immediately. "_Hiya, Maka, Soul! Thanks for coming!_"

"Hey, Lord Death," Maka said. She looked around. "Where's my Papa?"

"Since when do you call him _your_ Papa?" Soul commented.

"Shut up."

"_He went to Stein's lab, to see how examination of the hybrid was going,_" Lord Death replied. "_He should be back any minute._"

Maka all of a sudden shivered. "Speak of the devil..."

Spirit walked into the Death Room. "Sorry I'm late. Had to walk here all the way from Stein's lab-"

That was when he noticed Maka was in the room. Obsessive Parent Mode, activate.

"_MAKAAAAAA_!" he cried out, racing over and enveloping his daughter in a hug. "I was so worried! How could you take that mission to Italy? Do you want to send your Papa to an early grave? I-"

"_Reaper Chop!_"

_**BONK!**_

Spirit now lay on the ground, blood spurting from his head like a fountain.

"_If that's all, can we please get this briefing started?_" Lord Death said, somewhat irritated.

"How did Lord Death chop Death Scythe through the mirror?" Soul whispered to Maka.

Maka shrugged. "He's Death. He can do what he wants."

* * *

"And... begin!" Mifune declared.

Let's assume for a minute that you have gym class at your school. You probably do running, football, push-ups, etc. Normal stuff.

The DWMA, as we all know, is anything but a normal school. Instead of usual PE activities, most classes involved unarmed combat between the students. (They occasionally did stuff like track and gymnastics, for the sake of the skills they provided.) Today, it wasn't unarmed, though they only used wooden swords.

On Mifune's word, Kilik and Ox came at each other, wielding wooden blades. Ox's weapon partner was a spear, so he had a slight advantage when it came to swinging a weapon, unlike Kilik, who used twin 'pots.'

"Keep your arms up," Mifune called out advice to his students. "That style of sword is meant for swinging, not stabbing!"

While all this was going on, Angela was off to the side, playing tag with Fire and Thunder.

Ox used his sword to knock Kilik's legs out from under him, but he immediately got up. After a repetition sword clashing against sword, Ox raised his wooden weapon high to finish him. Seeing an opening, Kilik brought his sword down on Ox's shoulder, and he crumpled.

"Score!" Kilik proclaimed out in victory.

Mifune turned to his students. "Can anyone tell me what Ox did wrong?"

"He was cocky and got served?" Havar guessed in all seriousness.

"Et tu, Havar?" Ox croaked.

"Not exactly," Mifune said. He shot a glance at Kilik, who spinning his sword and looking pretty proud of himself. Fire and Thunder were waving at him in congratulations.

Kilik turned to look at Mifune, and his wooden sword fell neatly in two.

"Huh?" Kilik gasped, confused.

"He thought he had an advantage, and let his guard down," Mifune went on, one of his katanas now in hand.

_When did he draw his sword?_ the students thought unanimously.

Mifune re-sheathed his sword, skimming the room. His eyes fell upon Sid and Nygus, who were standing in the doorway.

"Now, all of you grab a wooden sword and pick a partner to spar with," he ordered. "I'll be back."

Once all the students got started, Mifune jogged briskly over to the zombie and his weapon.

"What can I do for you?" he asked immediately.

"Lord Death has an assignment for me and Nygus," Sid replied. "And he wants you to come along as back-up."

This surprised Mifune. He wasn't a meister, so he was never asked to go on missions. "Why would you need back-up?"

"Uh... let's just say that even the most skilled meisters need back-up these days and leave it at that."

"You in?" Nygus added.

Mifune looked back at Angela, who had pinned Fire to the floor. "I can't. I may be a teacher at the academy now, but my main duty is to protect Angela. And I have a feeling this mission is dangerous, so I can't bring her along."

"If you're worried, leave her with someone else," Nygus suggested. "What about Kim? Angela likes her, and she and Jackie could protect her easily."

"Kim and Jackie left for a mission this morning with Dorje and Nuba Phillips," Sid remarked. "They won't be back for a couple days."

"Oh, good point."

"I appreciate the thought, but I don't think I could trust Angela with anyone else," Mifune contended. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not going to force you to do this," Sid went on, "but Lord Death really wants you to come with us. Isn't there _someone_ you can have watch Angela?"

Before Mifune could tell him no again, he heard a triumphant cry of, "YA-HOO!"

Black*Star was standing atop a pile of challengers, holding his wooden sword up high.

"It was a valiant effort, but you should've expected defeat when challenging such a big guy!" he gloated.

"Oh, Black*Star..." Tsubaki sighed, and began apologizing to her meister's latest victims.

"Mifune?" Nygus piped up.

Mifune stroked his chin. "Then again, maybe there is _someone_..."

* * *

"Well, we had a great stage today, Tsubaki!" Black*Star declared as he marched through the hallway. "But I feel our performance was a little lacking."

"Oh really?" Tsubaki asked.

He shrugged. "After doing such a big show defeating the kishin, it's hard to come up with something that'll out do it. I've been trying for months but I've got nothing to show for it."

"I'll sure you'll think with something," Tsubaki smiled, but behind that smile, she was thinking, _Maka defeated the kishin. We got knocked out. He'll never learn_.

"Black*Star? Tsubaki?"

The pair turned, and saw Sid.

"Hi Sid," Tsubaki greeted. "What's up?"

"Are you guys doing anything today? An assignment, or a mission?" Sid asked.

"Nah, we haven't checked the board in awhile, so we're free," Black*Star replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I have a task for you two, and I want to know if you're up for it."

"What kind of task?"

"Something only_ you_ can do, Black*Star. Unless, of course, you think you're not big enough for the job..."

Tsubaki raised an eyebrow. She could see what Sid was doing here. Whatever this 'task' was, he hadn't been able to get anyone else to do it, so he was making Black*Star take it by puffing up his ego. Black*Star, on the other hand, wasn't smart enough to figure that out.

"I'm the biggest guy there is!" he hollered. "Whatever this job is, I'll do it!"

"Excellent!" Sid said. He turned around, picked something up, and put it in Black Star's hands.

That something was Angela.

"Huh?" was all Black*Star could say.

"Hey, why'd you give me to Spiky, Mr. Zombie?" Angela whined. She looked at Tsubaki. "Hi, Tsubaki!"

Tsubaki gave a short wave. "Hi, Angela."

"Mifune is needed on an assignment, so you need to protect Angela in his absence," Sid explained. "He'll be back later tonight. Good luck."

"Hey, wait!" Black*Star called out, snapping to his senses. "You can't leave her with me! Stars don't babysit!"

"I was never the kind of man to trick his students, but this was necessary. You're the only one Mifune trusts with Angela, but I knew you wouldn't go for it," Sid said, walking away. "It's only for a few hours. You'll be fine."

With that, the zombie was gone.

"I can't believe this," Black*Star grumbled, trying to keep his grip on the squirming young witch. "I'm way too big to be babysitting a whiny little witch."

"This is a good thing, Black*Star!" Tsubaki insisted. "This shows that Mifune really trusts you, if he thinks you can protect Angela. You know how much he cares about her."

He considered this. "Hmm, good point. Okay then! I'll show that damn samurai the mighty Black*Star can protect this witch!"

By this point, Angela jumped free from Black*Star's hands, and promptly kicked him the groin. He instinctively fell to his knees.

"I don't want to play with you!" she complained. "I want Mifune!"

"You...brat.." Black*Star wheezed, his voice having gone up a few octaves. (If that was even possible, considering how high his voice was already.)

Tsubaki sweat dropped. _Something tells me this is going to be a long, long day._

* * *

"...she actually caught Witch Hunter between her hands, then shattered it," Maka went on with her story. "Luckily for us, it sent her flying into a building. I thought she'd stay down this time, but she got back up! Only now, her soul was giving off waves of madness. If this girl in a blindfold hadn't come along, I don't know what would've happened."

"_Then when you tried to stop them from escaping, the blindfold girl caught your blade with her bare hand and threw you aside, right?_" Lord Death finished.

Maka looked sheepish. "Yes."

Lord Death gave a weary sigh. "_Even in death, Medusa still managed to find a way to make our lives complicated. I've seen a lot of weird things in my lifetime, but diabolical clones really take the proverbial cake_."

"I thought cloning people was impossible," Death Scythe commented. "I mean, I heard they made a successful clone of a sheep, but it died soon after. Wouldn't cloning humans be even more difficult?"

"Belinda did say that Medusa tried, like, three times," Soul pointed out. "The first batch were failures, and the second round was made up of were-snakes. Belinda was apparently part of the third and perfect attempt."

"Now that I think about it, for a supposed clone of Medusa, Belinda didn't really look much like her," Maka said, thinking back. "They had same complexion, and their faces were similar, but that was pretty much it."

"Yeah, didn't Medusa have blonde hair and yellow eyes?" Soul remembered. "Witch Belinda had silver hair and green eyes."

"_Silver hair and green eyes, you say?_" Lord Death mused. "_Hmm..._"

Spirit shot Lord Death a glance. "Sir?"

"_Oh, what? Sorry, just thinking aloud. Carry on._"

"She still could've been lying about the whole clone thing. We'll have to figure that out later. She also said there were two others like her. Hopefully, we won't run into them anytime soon. But in response to Soul's previous comment, I'm not entirely sure Belinda is even a real witch," Maka admitted.

"_Oh_?" Lord Death said, tilting slightly to one side. "_What makes you say that?_"

"For starters, witches' souls are violet, because of magic, right? Belinda's was definitely fuchsia."

"Fuchsia?" Soul echoed.

"It's hottish pink-purple color," Maka elaborated. "But that difference is minor. Next, Belinda didn't rely entirely on her magic. She was pretty skilled in hand-to-hand combat as well. Not to mention she was able to use a soul force attack..."

While Maka was talking, Spirit had pulled out a water bottle and began to sip from it. At Maka's last statement, it caused him to take a spit-take.

Maka gave him a dirty look.

"Sorry, Maka," he apologized. "But for a second there, I could've sworn you said a_ witch_ could use a soul force attack."

"Pay attention, Death Scythe," Soul scowled. "That is what she said. It was even enough to make our soul wavelengths de-synchronize temporarily."

That got Lord Death's attention. "_That's not possible. Once two souls have synchronized, no outside force can break them apart._"

Soul shrugged. "I guess no one told _her_ that."

* * *

What did one do when one had to babysit a young witch? This was a valid question that Black*Star was currently asking himself. In fact, even if Angela had been a normal child, he still wouldn't have known what to do.

"Spiky, I'm bored!" Angela whined. At the moment, the trio was sitting on the school's front steps. "I wanna do something!"

"Well, what _do_ you wanna do?" Black*Star asked irritably.

Angela put on a serious, thinking expression. Then said, "I dunno. What do you want to do?"

_ARGHH!_ he thought, tearing at his hair. _I'm am seriously going to kill this kid_!

Tsubaki gave him a look, as if she had just read his mind. (The tearing at his hair was a dead giveaway.)

_Okay, calm down Black*Star_, he thought, taking a deep breath. _You are a warrior. Babysitting should be _too_ easy. Just play it cool..._ Pause._ Wow. I've been spending_ way_ too much time with Soul_.

But that wasn't true, now that Black*Star thought about it. In the last few months since the kishin's defeat, he and his friends hadn't spent a whole lot of time together. There had been missions, cleaning up the city, etc. He and Tsubaki were gone for awhile, back when they visited Tsubaki's family. The most they had been together in recent days was when they were training (and being yanked around by) the newbies. After going an ordeal like that (the kishin, not the newbies), wouldn't their friendship be stronger for it?

"Black*Star?"

Black*Star looked up. Tsubaki had placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Black*Star," she repeated. "Are you alright?"

"You're sure being quiet, Spiky," Angela added.

"Of course I'm alright!" he declared loudly, jumping up. "I'm the mighty Black*Star!"

"He's fine," Tsubaki sighed to herself. "Uh, Black*Star, since we can't think of anything to do, why don't we go to the park? Angela can play on the playground."

"Sounds good to me!" Black*Star replied. "I once carved my initials into the slide when I was younger! I bet they're still there!"

It was decided. They were going to the park. Tsubaki put Angela on her shoulders, and the three made their way. But what they didn't know, was they were being followed.

"Is that the witch?" one of the men following them asked.

"Yup. But I don't see the samurai," the other replied. "Who are those two?"

"Aren't they the ninjas who interrupted Don Al Capone's dinner party?"

"Ah, who cares. All that matters now is we get that witch. Nobody crosses the DeNiro family and gets away with it."

* * *

**Next: Conclusion!**


End file.
